


I heard you stabbed someone?

by woowa



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Aged-Down Character(s), Alternate Universe - High School, Anger, Anger Management, Angst, Borderline Personality Disorder, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Football, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, baekhyun and suho are brothers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2019-11-26 10:01:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 48,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18179168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woowa/pseuds/woowa
Summary: Baekhyun's brother's coworker gave him bad vibes ever since the first time they met. He hated the way he walked, spoke, and how he acted like everything on earth was made for just for his pleasure.But at least he doesn't hold grudges.“Nice to meet you, I'm Chanyeol. And I’m not here to hurt you, so you can stop struggling now. It won’t get you anywhere.”





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> hello everyone welcome,, this is my first story in a longgg time, and i hope you guys enjoy it!! I’ll be updating whenever i finish editing a chapter, which doesn’t take long as they’re really short. most likely every Thursday/Friday maybe earlier too if I finish earlier!
> 
> also, the football in this story is referring to the american version of football

Baekhyun had almost completed fixing his suit, a nice and simple bowtie that completed the look he was going for. The rest of the suit was an old one of his fathers that had been sitting in the closet, untouched, for the past few years. It had an lavish look to it, and he though he looked really nice in it. He took one last glance at himself in the mirror before turning to his brother.

“Are you ready to go in now?” Suho asked once their gazes met. They weren’t technically late yet, but Baekhyun knew his brother liked to arrive early to things. He’d learned that over the past few years of being rushed out the door two hours before school started because Suho was worried he'd "be late."

They were currently at some very important work party, as Suho had told him, and he was supposed to bring a family member to make him “look better,” and with Baekhyun being the only family he has left, of course, he made the younger go with him.

“When you walk in, look like you know what you’re doing. You never know who is going to be watching you at any given moment.” Suho told him, fingers on his bowtie trying to straighten it.

“Is that a threat?” Baekhyun asked.

“Maybe it is.” Suho shrugged, then continuing the conversation. “If you make a scene in there, I swear I’m emailing the coach about pulling you off the football team,” Suho whispered into his ear, aware that football was the only thing that mattered to Baekhyun.

His fists clench up at the thought of that being taken away from him. It was the only thing he enjoyed doing in his free time. The act of throwing balls at people and tackling them was just so relaxing to him.

“That’s evil.” He responds calmly.

“So is ruining your brothers chance at a promotion.” Suho snaps back and Baekhyun rolls his eyes.

He’d rather be anywhere else right now, preferably playing knockout with the football team, but instead, here he was, about to enter a very “important” party with a bunch of old rich guys, not his ideal Friday night.

“Just stay with me the entire time, don’t go wandering off anywhere, and I mean it!” Suho threatened right before they were about to go in.

They entered the doors and Baekhyun was immediately amazed at what he saw. It was certainly not what he was used to, the way the building was structured was even more than he could imagine. The ceilings were high enough for a crystal chandelier to hang. It was illuminated by lights in every corner, extra lights draped off of the doors.

He then spent the next hour or so politely greeting any random person that came up with a bright smile and a soft handshake. There were many people to watch and observe as Suho introduced them to him as different titles. Most of them were what he was expecting to see, old rich guys with their young and pretty wives, so the novelty wore off quite quickly and he found himself bored after a while.

“I’ll be back in five minutes. I have to go to the bathroom.” Suho said as they finished talking to a group of men. “Do not leave, just go over to the food bar and pick something out. Do not go anywhere, okay? I mean it!” Suho said, half whispering, half threatening him.

Baekhyun nodded in agreement, unwillingly. He didn’t want to stand still any longer, his legs were tired from being completely still. He also hated being treated like a child since he was already eighteen, but he held himself together because he knew it was important for his brother, and he couldn’t risk the chance of losing football.

He walked over to the snack bar like he was supposed to, analyzing the array of foods set out in front of him. There was every type of food there, way more than he could imagine. He wasn’t used to seeing so much free food laying out, especially expensive cuisine. He kept a firm eye on the shrimp until he heard a light whisper from behind him.

“Isn’t that Suho’s brother?” One of the voices whispered. Baekhyun felt his ears perk up at the mention of his brother, they had to be talking about him. He wanted to turn around and look at who they were talking to, but he resisted the urge and continued to admire the shrimp.

“Suho’s brother? You mean the one with the anger issues?” Baekhyun felt his cheeks heat up with embarrassment. Is that what people here were thinking of him? Did they know him? He looked around, wondering if anybody else was around to hear what these women were saying. His hands were wrapped around the plate, clenching the plate and almost dropping the glass straight onto the floor.

“Yeah, him. Why did Suho bring _him here?”_ She said with disgust, like the thought of him merely being here was a sin. “Didn’t he stab someone? Shouldn’t he be in jail?” Her tone sounded exaggerated, the words slurring together and Baekhyun wondered if they were drunk.

Baekhyun was in disbelief, and he felt anger build up over his body, so much he even felt calm. He wondered how, and why, people knew about him and were talking about him.

He decided to stand up for himself and say something to them, but before he could even get to that stage, he was met with an arm wrapping around his neck. He wondered if he was being strangled, but that wouldn’t make sense in an environment like this.

The owner of the arm whipped around to look Baekhyun in the eye. He was much taller than him, so Baekhyun had to look up to even make eye contact with him. He had black hair that was stylishly slicked back and a bright smile that lit up the universe.

He realized the man didn’t want to kill him, but talk to him.

“Welcome to the party!” The man said, taking a few steps forward so Baekhyun was forced to follow. He leads them away from the girls, and Baekhyun was relieved for that. Once they were far enough away from them, the man leaned in and whispered into his ear. “Don’t worry about them, all they do is gossip.” He said, having to lean down a little because of the few inches of height he had on Baekhyun. “They have nothing better to do.” He said, leaning back and slowly releasing the grip he had on Baekhyun’s neck.

All he could do was nod, still dumbfounded from the entire situation. He hoped Suho would be here soon so they could leave. They looked at each other for a moment. The man had a little smile on his face that never left.

“If you want to go somewhere else, we can.” He said, breaking the silence.

“To do what?” Baekhyun asked.

“To talk.” He replied.

“To talk about what?”

“Just come with me.” The man said, grabbing onto Baekhyun once again and dragging him by the hand through the large room. Baekhyun’s fight or flight senses would have activated if he hadn’t held himself together for the sake of his brother. His instincts were telling him to sock this man right in the face.

He pulled Baekhyun towards the bathrooms located directly outside of the room, not even letting go of him. He struggled under the man’s grasp but he was simply too strong and had large control over Baekhyun.

He opened the stall door and pushed Baekhyun inside so he was directly above the toilets. Baekhyun struggled with his hands once more, eager to get leadership over the man. The thought of him not having complete control over his body haunted him and his desire to escape increased. He passed by the man while he was busy adjusting himself, but was immediately pulled back inside.

“Hey little guy, where are you going?” Baekhyun heard the man say with little to no emotion as if shoving people into bathroom stalls was just something he did on a daily basis. He wrapped his hands around Baekhyun’s shoulders, stabilizing him while leaning down to get a good look at his face. “I just want to talk to you.”

“Little guy? What are you calling me?” he spat, grabbing onto the sides of the stall to avoid falling into the water.

“Hey hey, calm down,” Chanyeol said, once again pushing Baekhyun’s hands down. He was now completely stuck in place by the strong man’s arms, which just made him more frustrated.

““Nice to meet you, I'm Chanyeol. And I’m not here to hurt you, so you can stop struggling now. It won’t get you anywhere.” He stated.

Baekhyun remained silent, rolling his eyes at the man's word choice. Nice to meet him? Who said this was a 'nice' interaction? The man, named Chanyeol apparently, rested his arms gently onto his shoulders before forcefully shoving his bottom right onto the toilet seat. 

“There,” Chanyeol said. “I just want to know a little bit about you.” He says calmly, standing over him with crossed arms. Baekhyun found this position a tad _uncomfortable._

“At least let me put the toilet seat down,” Baekhyun stated, making eye contact with Chanyeol so he could avoid staring directly at the special view that was in front of him.

“Go ahead. Nobody’s stopping you.” Chanyeol said, waiting for Baekhyun to adjust himself. “Now, please tell me about this guy you stabbed.”


	2. two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chap 2 hehe yay. i was editing this and went from like 1k words to 2.1k omg the power of editing!! this isnt as long as i intended it to be but its late and i really wanna update tonight so ill just add the remaining part to the beginning of the next chapter

“I’m not saying I agree with those women, but this topic is something all of us have been wondering about for a while.” He said, crossing his arms. “Are we supposed to feel safe with you being here? I’m not trying to be rude, I’m just curious.”

Baekhyun sat in silence, looking to the side to avoid making eye contact with Chanyeol’s dick. He was humiliated, to say the least. Usually, he was the one taking initiative over things, but now he felt like the air around him was disappearing and his life would be closing in with this large male hunched over him. This was one of the last places he would have expected to be at such a sophisticated party like this. 

He dug his nails into his palms, eager to do something that would result in leaving and never seeing Chanyeol again. He'd been taught to never, **ever** trust big tall strangers, especially ones who seem like they have a little too much time on their hands. 

“No response?” Chanyeol asked, crouching down to be at eye level with him, making the small room he had even smaller. “Does that mean the rumors are true?” He said with raised eyebrows. 

“Rumors.” He scoffed, not even bothering to respond. 

Chanyeol continued to creep over him, speaking some more insulting words while Baekhyun refused to listen and instead, tried to determine the weakest part of the man’s body. He looked directly at his stomach, deciding to aim for there. 

He had enough of this, he didn’t ask for any of this and wasn’t going to put up with him for any longer. His fist was still clenched and he moved it forward as fast as he could, cutting through the air right into his target, Chanyeol’s stomach.

He immediately heard a yelp from the elder as he bends down onto the floor to clutch his stomach, probably a reflex, Baekhyun guessed. It couldn’t have hurt _that_ much. He still took this to his advantage, using the man as a stepping stone to retreat the stall. Reaching up, he swiftly slid the door open and attempted to move his legs forward.

However, he couldn’t. Chanyeol had regained his focus and now had a firm grip on Baekhyun’s left thigh. He tried to shake him off, but that just caused Chanyeol to hold on tighter and begin to dig his nails into his leg. He thought about just giving this man a few good kicks to the face and having this be over with, but he decided against it. He’d probably just earn the same thing right back. 

Before Chanyeol was able to grab onto his other leg, he tried to use what remaining force he had left to pull himself forward, but that only resulted in his head smashing onto the floor. Luckily, Chanyeol’s grip had been released in the process, somewhat, and he was able to pull himself free. 

Chanyeol had gotten onto his feet quicker than Baekhyun would have expected. Their eyes met for a quick moment and Baekhyun couldn’t tell if Chanyeol looked happy, or mad. Maybe he thought this was all for fun? Like he was playing a game? He decided it was the ladder after he examined Chanyeol’s face for a few more seconds, realizing that his eyes were red with anger. He’s never seen someone look this angry, it frightened him. 

With his flight or flight senses activated, he decided to try and run for the door, hoping to at least get out of the grotesque bathroom. Chanyeol must have been thinking the same thing as him because he didn’t get very far before he was pulled him backward by the shoulder. Time felt like it was moving in slow motion as Chanyeol turned him around in a half circle and shoved him against the bathroom wall, hard. He had his fists tangled in Baekhyun’s suit while applying a massive amount of pressure right onto his chest, causing him to cough a few times. 

“You are a fighter, I was right about you! I can’t wait to tell Suho, he kept telling us there was nothing wrong with you but I wasn’t having any of it.” He said, smiling brightly, obviously proud of himself. “I was waiting to see when you’d snap.”

Baekhyun didn’t dare to move, relaying the words he was just told through his head. The expression Chanyeol had on his face would have caused anybody else to piss their pants. It made him feel inferior to the man, which is not something he’s used to. 

“I see you’re not fighting back anymore. Mad that I exposed you? Or are you just lazy?” He daunted, laughing like a supervillain. Baekhyun kept his eyes on the older, trying to slow as little emotion as he could. He was appalled by the entire discourse that just occurred, partially denying that it even just happened and he was just at home dreaming up a really weird scenario. 

But here he was, under the grip of an oversized man, struggling to get free. They remained in the position for a while before Baekhyun felt a little relief on his chest, assuming Chanyeol was either testing him to see if he’ll escape, or he was just simply getting tired and running out of strength.

At this point he didn’t care about fighting back anymore, he just wanted to leave. Taking advantage of the now weakened Chanyeol. He clasped his hands on top of his and used his body force to push him off, not bothering to look at where he ended before darting out of the bathroom. 

He dusted off his suit a few times, entering the ballroom quickly so Chanyeol couldn’t grab him in the hallway and drag him back into the bathroom. He figured he’d have better judgment this time around and wouldn’t let himself get dragged places by strange men. 

Once he got inside, he began to look around for Suho, but could not see him anywhere. He made his way back to the food bar where his brother had told him to stay, wondering if he was still in the bathroom or not. How many bathrooms were in this place? He was sure he would have run into him in there. 

“Baekhyun!” A friendly sounding voice called from behind him, and he turned around to see the devil himself, sporting a wide and happy smile. How did he catch up so quickly? His slicked back gel hair was now slightly messed up, but his face had a completely different emotion. Not only was his smile big, but his entire face looked like he just won the lottery. “Why did you leave? Did you not like the conversation we were having?” He asked. 

“Just fuck off,” Baekhyun mumbled, turning away to keep an eye out for Suho. 

“You don’t even want to talk to me? Wow, that hurts my feelings.” Chanyeol said, faking a frown and putting his hands on his chest. “I thought we were having a good talk. Was it something I said?”

“Who are you trying to show off to?” Baekhyun asked. “And what’s your issue? Why are you so obsessed with me?” He crossed his arms, not bothering to wait for an answer before turning back around to look at the food and keep an eye out for his brother.

“What?” Chanyeol said, dumbfounded. “Why would I care about you?” He said, with a face of disgust. Baekhyun was amazed at how easily he could alter his facial expressions.

“Obviously you are. If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t have had such a big interest in me.” Baekhyun fired back, turning around to speak directly to him. “If you could leave me and my brother alone now, that would be desired.”

He felt a large force on his shoulder pull him back, much like what had happened merely two minutes ago in the bathroom. “Baekhyun! What the hell are you doing!” Suho whisper-shouted into his ear while pulling him away from Chanyeol. “Why are you yelling at Chanyeol? He’s someone I work with.” He said, pausing to drag Baekhyun closer to him. “Someone who is at a higher position than me.”

Baekhyun didn’t get a chance to respond before his brother had pushed him behind him. Suho was now face to face with Chanyeol, who was watching with one eyebrow raised and his arms crossed. 

“Sorry about him, just disregard everything he might have said,” Suho says with a nervous laugh.

“Don’t worry about it, Suho.” He said, flashing his usual bright smile. “It’s fine actually, Baekhyun and I were just playing around.” He moves his head to the side to get a look at Baekhyun. “Isn’t that right?”

He felt his face get hot, wanting nothing more to sock that man right in the face. Everything about Chanyeol angered him and made him wish he wasn’t someone important to Suho, so he could properly beat him up. The way he approached him in the first place gave him bad vibes instantly and the way he was holding onto Baekhyun and dragging him around like a child just rubbed him the wrong way. And not to mention, how he was shoved into the bathroom stall with him to “talk” and now how he was pretending all of it was just a joke. 

“Yeah.” He mumbled quietly, disregarding all of his thoughts and forming a small smile while slightly tugging his brother backward, hoping that he understood that he wanted to leave as soon as possible. 

Suho completely ignored his subtle action. His gaze was set on Chanyeol and he let out a small laugh. “That’s a relief. Would you be fine with staying with Baekhyun for a few more minutes while I take care of some business? That would be a huge help to me!” Suho asked. 

Chanyeol immediately agreed, and Baekhyun felt the blood inside him boil. Suho gave him a thumbs up before walking away and leaving Baekhyun alone, once again, with this giant monster. 

“So what do you want to talk about?” Chanyeol asked, not touching Baekhyun this time. “I’m still curious, by the way, but you don’t have to tell me about it if you don’t want to. I’m just curious. Did you really stab someone?” He asked, scooting closer to Baekhyun, following his movements as Baekhyun took a few steps backward.

“Quit talking about it,” Baekhyun said firmly, attempting to leave.

“Where are you going?” Chanyeol said, stopping him by grabbing his arm. “You're supposed to stay with me, remember? We don’t want a lost kid wandering around.” He taunted. 

“Kid? I’m legally an adult.” Baekhyun snapped back. 

“Adults don’t go to High School,” Chanyeol responded with a smirk. 

Baekhyun just scoffed, too shocked and annoyed to think of anything to say back. He shoved Chanyeol’s hand off of him for what seemed like the ninth time tonight.

“Let’s go somewhere, it’s boring here,” Chanyeol said, grabbing Baekhyun’s arm once again. This time he didn’t even tolerate it and shook his hand off immediately, feeling himself lose his temper. 

“Stop touching me!” He said firmly, ignoring the hint of amusement left in Chanyeol’s eyes. Was this all a joke to him?

“Why? You don’t want to come with me? Let’s just go right outside the door, we can talk there where it isn’t so crowded.” He leaned in closer, wrapping his hands around Baekhyun’s neck in the process. “You don’t want to cause a scene.” He pointed out and Baekhyun took notice of the few people around them now, glancing and whispering at him. 

That made him frustrated, it was all Chanyeol’s fault he was the center of attention. If it hadn’t been for his need to be inappropriately intrusive, none of this would have happened! He watched every movement of Chanyeol carefully, almost gaping when he realized how close they were to each other. It’s like personal space wasn’t a word in this man’s dictionary. 

There were so many thoughts swarming his head, he didn’t even realize what he did next before it was too late. They had moved close enough to the wall that Baekhyun had an open chance to hold the hand that Chanyeol had near him, and shove it against the wall with all of his might. He released it immediately after. 

Chanyeol instantly yelped out in pain, falling onto the floor and hunching over while making small wailing sounds. This brought everyone’s attention over to them. He evaluated for a few minutes and realized that they were all staring at him with not only confusion but with pure and utter disgust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- <3


	3. three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! i planned on updating this earlier but something came up and i wasn't able to finish when i thought i would be able too, oops. 
> 
> i still havent finished what i wanted to post but i just wanted to get something posted cause i felt bad about not updating when i told myself i would, so because of that, this is part 1 of the chapter! 
> 
> part 2 will either be updated tomorrow or the day after, depending on whenever i finish editing it!

He felt small with all of the gruesome looks he was getting. The only sound ringing in his ears was pure silence, he couldn’t even hear anyone around him talking, let alone Chanyeol’s continuous wails. _Stay calm, Baekhyun_ , he told himself. He didn’t want to make more of a fool out of himself. 

He stayed like that for a while, slowly creeping forwards and farther away from the wall. He had his back turned to Chanyeol the entire time, too embarrassed to even think about looking at him and the possibility of making eye contact. He reached back, assuming he was near one of the tables now and set his hands on it. Only a few seconds had passed in real life, but it felt like hours. Time was moving in slow motion for him. 

He felt a light tug on his arm, pulling him back a little. He thought it might have been one of the other guests, but much to his surprise, it was Chanyeol. He turned around only slightly to see the frustrated and pained look on the taller man’s eyes. He concluded that he was one to get mad when he was in pain, and not sad. 

He tightened his grip on and forced Baekhyun to turn around so they were facing chest to chest. His eyes darted down, not daring to look up at him. He flinched the grip grew even tighter, and he had the urge to make a sound about it. 

All of his thoughts were thrown out the window when he felt his body accelerate backwards from his chest. Chanyeol had let go of his grip and used massive force to push him backwards, leading him to crash right into the table that was directly behind him. 

It collapsed at the impact and Baekhyun felt the plastic table crumble under him. He made note of the terrible table quality at such a sophisticated party. Immediately he felt his back set on fire at the sudden pressure and didn’t have the strength to pull himself up. Chanyeol was standing over him, cradling his hand while spitting insults that Baekhyun didn’t pay any attention too. Moments passed, and nothing had changed. Nobody helped him up, nobody stopped Chanyeol, and he wondered if he would try and attack him again. Or would they just stay in this position forever?

“What the hell is wrong with you!” Chanyeol yelled, loud enough to break into Baekhyun’s ears through his wall of thoughts. He noticeable looked shocked at the sudden voice, and he could imagine how everyone else was reacting to this. Chanyeol stopped yelling for a moment to turn to look at someone who was walking towards them, he assumed, and his face lit up in delight to catch sight of his brother. 

Chanyeol stepped backwards at the appearance of Suho, probably now aware of the attention he was creating. Suho looked at him with a shocked expression, and bend over to grab onto one of his arms to pull him up. He stumbled a little when he was pulled up due to the swift movements, but he felt even worse when he realized how embarrassed he was. 

“What the hell happened?” He questioned Baekhyun, looking back and forth at him and Chanyeol, who was now sitting with a scowl on his face. He reminded Baekhyun of a toddler throwing a tantrum when he didn’t get candy. 

“Your fucking brother is insane!” Chanyeol yelled out. Now Baekhyun realized just how _loud_ a human voice could sound. His breathing increased and there was steam coming out of his ears. “The little bitch broke my hand, for no damn reason!” He yelled. 

Baekhyun was taken back by the statement, it was obviously not “for no damn reason.” He came up with as many insults in his head as he could, wanting to fire back and defend himself. He can’t stand it when people make up things to make themselves look more like the victim. 

Suho turned around and made direct eye contact with him, wiping all former thoughts of retaliating from his mind and returning him to a scared and nervous state. “Is that true?” He asked harshly. The tone of his voice sent shivers down his spine. It was a tone he hadn’t heard in a long time, so the memory of it left him feeling empty, and he didn’t have the energy to respond. He looked down from his brothers gaze and kept his eyes on the floor, tracing the pattern of it in his brain. 

“Look at him, he can’t even admit to it. Pathetic.” Chanyeol sarcastically laughed. “Something’s wrong with him, I know it. Don’t bring him here again!” He yelled. The voice was just as unsettling as Suho’s was moments ago. 

Baekhyun’s hands curled up, but they were immediately released when Suho forced his hands into them. “I’m sorry about this Chanyeol, we can talk later and clear things up. Just let me get Baekhyun home first.” He said, pulling Baekhyun out the door. 

“Yeah, sure. Have fun with that monster.” Chanyeol added before Baekhyun was out the door and couldn’t hear anything else that was said. 

He fought to keep up with Suho’s enraged walking as they exited the building. 

The car ride was silent most of the way home, and Baekhyun could basically see the fumes of anger radiating off of Suho. He expected a loud lecture that would end up with both of them yelling their heads off, but instead, he was met with bitter silence. He didn’t know how fast they were going, but he was sure that it was well over the speed limit. Baekhyun didn’t have the energy to warn him about it or do anything to stop it, so he just hoped that the darkness made it less noticeable to other drivers around him. 

Twenty or so minutes in, he couldn’t tell, he felt like his brain was about to explode. The silence was cutting at his throat. “I’m fine, by the way.” He muttered, now feeling annoyed by his brother's response. Wasn’t he the one that was shoved into a table?

“I didn’t ask,” Suho responded, his tone flat with a lack of emotion, almost like it was all sucked out of him. He kept his hands tight on the steering wheel and his eyes fixed directly in front of him, not even bothering to look over at his brother who was curled up in the passenger seat.

“I know. That’s why I’m telling you.” he calmly responded, almost hoping for a reacting out of Suho to break the silence. It seemed like the only way to get him to communicate. 

“You better be quiet before I actually kick you out of the house,” Suho warned. “I pay the bills for our house, all of them!” His voice wavered, and Baekhyun could feel the emotion coming from it. “I came here hoping to get a raise, and now I’m most likely going to be fired.” 

Baekhyun scoffed, not having a response to that. He knew his brother was right, he just didn’t want to admit it or own up to his actions. He decided to just close his eyes, hoping to fall asleep.

The ride was silent for moments more, before Suho spoke up again. “You’re going to your room as soon as we get home, and you’re not allowed anywhere but school until I figure this shit out. And you can forget about football.”

Baekhyun’s eyes blinked open. “You can’t ground me, you’re not my parent.”

“You’re right, but I’m your legal guardian, and you will listen to me.” He hissed through his teeth, pronouncing every single word and syllable separately. 

Baekhyun didn’t respond anymore, he just wanted to be away from Suho. He debated running away from their house and staying with a teammate because the thought of being crammed up in the house and having to spend even _more_ time with his brother scared him, but he decided against it, knowing it would just make Suho even more angry with him. And, he was technically his legal guardian. 

The silent treatment lasted for much longer then he thought it would. Hours passed, and then it turned into days, and Baekhyun felt more alone than he ever had before. He realized how big of a part his brother plays in his development and life. The thought of him being too upset with him to even talk to him was slowly eating him away, and he hated it. 

Every day for him was the same routine. He would come home directly after school and sit in his room, catching up on homework and using the rest of the time to lay in his bed yelling into a pillow. He couldn’t bring himself to go downstairs and willingly face his brother. He had to put up a front, showing him that he was also mad and wouldn’t apologize until Suho was ready to return it. 

Though he didn’t really know what he deserved an apology for, he wanted one anyway. His back still ached and Suho hadn’t made any effort to check in on him, which didn’t settle well with him. 

Three days into this repetitive and continuous process, their relationship hadn’t made any progress. He still tiptoed around Suho whenever he saw him, worried that one step out of place would set off the ticking bomb. He was working more these days too. Baekhyun wondered if it was just to keep himself busy, or he was purposely trying to avoid him. He made up his own fantasy that he was just really busy with work because of all the things that had to be done, it hurt his feelings less that way. 

Even though, during those days, he made many attempts to sneak out in hopes of making it in time for football practice. He almost successfully escaped one time before being yelled at once more and having his window chained together with a key probably somewhere in the dumpster by now.

The night of the third day is when Baekhyun heard Suho’s voice call him in the first time in what seemed like years. The sound almost sounding foreign to him. 

“Baekhyun! Come on down!” He heard muffled from the closet, where he was organizing his clothes for the seventh time. He slid open the door, thinking he was hearing things, but once Suho made the same call again, he decided he wasn't. He walked downstairs with confusion, not knowing what to expect, considering the situation. He half guessed he was being called down because Suho found another thing to get mad at him about and wanted to finally start communicating again by yelling. 

He tiptoes down the stairs and caught sight of the kitchen. His breath hitched in his throat, mouth agape at the familiar face that had haunted him these past few days. Chanyeol was sitting at the table with a mug, smiling and having a conversation with Suho, whose face no longer held a disgusted look and instead was a bright and happy smile. 

They both looked over at him when he walked down the stairs, cracking softly as he took careful steps down, still wary about being yelled at again. 

“Hi Baekhyun.” Chanyeol smiled. His attire was much more casual than he was last time Baekhyun saw him, he almost looked like a completely different person with a light grey sweatshirt and sweatpants on. His hair was no longer slicked back, it looked more like a large mass of waves on top of his head, with pieces sticking out at all angles. 

He was leaning back in a chair at their table, long legs stretched out underneath it. Baekhyun brought his eyes up to his hand, which was now wrapped in a white bandage. He remembered how he had smashed the man's hand a few days ago, only now realizing the severity of it. Had he really broken his hand? He was strong enough for that?

Baekhyun looked around uncomfortably, trying to avoid any glances they were sending him. They both looked happy much to his surprise, he thought next time he saw Chanyeol, he would be here for revenge and end up beating him up as he had done shortly ago.

He didn’t walk down their stairs any further until Suho motioned him to come down with a cheerful smile. “Come join us Baekhyun!” He said from across the room. “Chanyeol offered to cook for us.”

“He did?” Baekhyun asked, confused as he took a few more steps down the stairs. 

“Yes, isn’t that kind of him?” Suho said, eyes turning to look directly at Baekhyun. He could see right through the front Suho was putting up in front of Chanyeol and realized that he was waiting for Baekhyun to acknowledge Chanyeol’s kindness. 

“Yes,” Baekhyun replied, now on the same level as the other two and pulling out a chair at the kitchen table to sit down. He caught sight of Chanyeol’s eyes that were on him, showing much less anger than yesterday. Instead of looking like he wanted to rip his head off, he looked up with a smile and a welcoming face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- <3


	4. four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heres part 2 that i promised yesterday! next update will be probably sometime next week. this is kind of a filler chapter cause it was originally the same part as the first one but i just split it up. so i hope you guys enjoy! and thank you to everyone who has been reading and leaving comments, I really do appreciate them all.

“I wanted to apologize for what happened on Saturday.” Chanyeol began after a few moments of silence. “I realized I did kind of egg you on and caused this for myself.” His smile faded slightly, turning into a slight grimace as he admitted his mistake. “I also did push you into a table. Are you okay, by the way?” He asked. 

“Yeah.” He replied softly, eyes wandering everywhere but Chanyeol’s gaze, which was fixated directly on him. He could feel the eyes watching him, burning holes into his body. The way he was too cheery and happy after almost exploding three nights ago was confusing Baekhyun.

“Great!” he exclaimed. “And there’s no need to worry about my hand. The doctor checked it and it’s only a slight sprain.” He chucked. “I guess I might have overreacted a little bit, and I wanted to apologize for this. So, no hard feelings, right?” He asked. Baekhyun assumed it was rhetorical. 

He found the way he spoke completely offsetting and just plain annoying. He’d never met someone who could sound so excited while talking about a sprained hand, yet Chanyeol passes it off as casual like it’s just a regular occurrence that he has his hand bashed by a teenage boy. His whole tone could brighten up a gloomy room, but he wasn’t necessarily in the mood to have an elated mindset, especially in front of the one who caused this whole disaster in the first place.

“Of course not!” Suho answered for him, butting into the conversation. “Baekhyun’s sorry too, he just doesn’t like being bothered a lot of the time, that’s why he overreacted a little bit.” He said, looking over at Baekhyun. He caught sight with him again, and he had that same _you better not fuck this up_ look in his eyes. 

“It’s no problem, I completely understand. And I’ve been meaning to show off my cooking skills anyway, so I decided now would be a perfect time!” Chanyeol beamed, standing up to go to the stove. He began digging through their limited stock of pots and pans. 

Baekhyun hadn’t had a nice home-cooked meal in so long, his body begged for it, even if it meant it would be made by Chanyeol. He hated to admit it, but he was actually looking forward to what he would end up making. Anything would be enough to suffice his depravity at this point. 

“I’m making shrimp, is that cool with you guys?” He asked, holding a bag full of assumed shrimp. 

“Yeah, anything is fine,” Suho answered. Baekhyun didn’t care either. He would eat anything at this point. He’d been living off Chick-fil-a and McDonalds for a while, home cooked seafood was definitely a change. 

Suho and Chanyeol continued a conversation about work while the food was being cooked. Baekhyun wanted to leave but knew that would just make everyone mad and possibly ruin the amendments Suho tried so hard to get. He fiddled with his fingers for a while, casually picking dirt out of them, uninterested in all of the “grown-up talk” happening around him. He decided he would have been less bored if he was sitting up in his room alone than he was here. 

When the time to eat finally came around, Chanyeol took it upon himself decorate the table with proper silverware and placemats, awkwardly standing over Baekhyun once again in order to do so. He claimed this meal was fit as a makeup meal for the night of the party, when the brothers left early due to an event he caused. He felt bad Baekhyun didn’t have the night he should have had, so he tried to recreate it. 

He ate the food slowly, his body urging him to speed up due to the delightful flavour of it, but he stayed calm for the sake of company in the house. Chanyeol was eating as properly as he could, which was the opposite of what he would have expected him to do. 

“Where did you learn to cook?” Suho asked, breaking the silence that consisted of mainly eating noises and the light hum of the stove in the background. 

“My mom taught me,” Chanyeol replied proudly. His eyes lit up at the mention of his mom like he was just waiting for this topic to come up so he could talk about her.“She’s the greatest woman out there. An amazing cook, amazing mother, and amazing at everything else. Even for her age, she’s still thriving and sometimes I even forget she’s my mom, she’s more like a best friend to me. She and my dad own a restaurant back in my hometown. You guys should come to visit sometime!”

Baekhyun almost rolled his eyes at the last part. He wanted them to come and visit his parents? As if it wasn’t just three days ago that he seemed like he wouldn’t even bat an eye if Baekhyun was choking right in front of him. How can someone’s mindset change so quickly?

“How did two chefs end up with an accountant as a son?” Suho laughed. He seemed much more intrigued then Baekhyun was, probably trying to stay on the good side by engaging with something very precious to Chanyeol. 

“Skill, I guess. I studied hard at a good college, and my focus was on my studies the entire time. I’m sure it’s the same for you as well, Suho.” Chanyeol returned the laugh, then brought his attention back to Baekhyun, who was staring at his empty plate with no emotion. “Baekhyun, what do you want to be when you grow up?” He asked. 

Baekhyun almost cracked a smile at how ridiculous the question was. It almost sounded insulting. He had been talking about how good everything in his life was and now he shifted the attention completely over to Baekhyun. It was like finding dirt after being on a streak of gold. Disappointing. 

Baekhyun knew his life was spiralling down into disaster at this point. His grades were simply terrible, and he had zero work ethic or motivation to bring them back up. Even his hygiene was something he cared little about, he just had little self-worth for himself and didn’t try anything to change that. How was he supposed to answer Chanyeol? With his eyes glaring at him, begging for an answer to reflect on. 

“I don’t know.” He muttered, not knowing what else to say. He couldn’t mention how he’d never really thought about the future, almost assuming it wouldn’t end well. “I don’t really think that far ahead.” he continued. 

“You’re like me. I don’t think about the future much either. I don’t live in the past as well. I believe life is constantly moving and in motion, so past events, like what happened at the party, don’t affect me for more than about 24 hours.” Chanyeol responded. So that’s why he got over him so fast, he assumed. Why did he relate them together, though? Baekhyun thought he was just looking for ways to throw himself in the conversation and talk about himself some more. Did he have to make everything about him?

Baekhyun gave a slight nod in response, not speaking what was on his mind. The rest of the dinner, he went back to his uninterested state and tuned out the rest of the conversation between Suho and Chanyeol. It was just more work shit he didn’t understand. 

He doesn’t know how long he was over there for. Minutes turned into hours and he felt like his head would explode if he heard one more word out of the tall man's mouth. He just kept talking and talking, going off topic and bringing up new ones along the way, never even finishing his thoughts before starting a new one. 

Finally, Chanyeol was ready to leave. He stood up from the table and went to grab his coat at the front door.

“Don’t you want the leftovers?” Suho asked, picking up a bag full of uncooked shrimp that never got used. 

“No, you guys can keep them. I bought extra so you guys could have them later if you wanted. If not, that’s okay, I just thought I would offer.” Chanyeol replied. 

“Oh, well thank you!” Suho exclaimed, holding onto the bag of uncooked dead sea creatures. 

Baekhyun raised his eyebrows, what were they suppose to do with a bag of a bunch of shrimp? None of them cooked much, especially not enough to know how to properly cook seafood. It seemed like an unplanned gesture to him, anyone who knew them would not gift them something in this category. 

Still, he accepted the gesture with a small smile, unknowing if Chanyeol noticed or not. 

Chanyeol gave Suho a small hug on his way out. He even backtracked a little, coming back to the kitchen to offer Baekhyun a handshake. He held out his uninjured hand and Baekhyun reluctantly did the same, impressed by his huge grip. 

Once Chanyeol left, he felt relieved, to say the least. He moved freely as soon as the door shut, half expecting Suho to go back to ignoring him. The entire time he was here, he felt like he was walking on pins and needles while trying to remain calm and to _not_ express his distaste for him once more. 

“Wow, that was amazing.” Suho breathed in, releasing it all into the air. “I haven’t had good food like that in a while, and he even cooked it all himself! What a talented, and polite man. I’ve never seen someone so happy, engaged, and excited all at once. He truly is a gift.” He said in amazement, describing Chanyeol like he was writing a biography of his life. 

Baekhyun hadn’t heard this many words from his brother in the past three days, let alone such positive ones. He assumed he was just relieved that this whole thing had figured itself out, and he could get his chance back at promotion or something, Baekhyun wasn’t completely sure. He just sends a small smile to his brother, attempting to walk back upstairs. 

“He doesn’t hold any harsh feelings against us, and even came to apologize.” Suho beamed. “As for you, you’re not completely off the hook yet, but I do want to apologize. I’m sorry for banning football from you and getting mad, you can go out again.”

Baekhyun’s heart fluttered at the sound of that. He hadn’t heard such good news in years. His mood was completely lifted and he couldn’t help but to cracked a large smile, rushing to go back upstairs to tell the team.

“Hey, aren’t you going to help me clean up?” Suho called.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can find me on instagram at @kyungkaisoo


	5. five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! heres chapter 5, its a little short, sorry :(, but the next week will be longer i promise. i had a lot going on this week and wasnt able to get as much time to edit as i wanted so i ultimately ended up just cutting it a little shorter. but ive decided that ill update every wednesday/thursday! hope you guys enjoy this chapter! any feedback is always appreciated and thank you all so much for reading!!

Baekhyun’s eye shot open in a flash and his body woke up with a startle due to the loud screeching in his ear. The high pitched beeping made him throw his hands up to his face to cover his ears. He looked around in confusion, wondering what the hell it was and where it was coming from. It poured into his ears, every beep sounding ten times louder than the previous one. 

His body was still glued to the bed, dead tired, but his mind was fully awake and alert, scanning the room for the source of the sound. He shook his head a few times and ran his hands through his hair, trying to get it to go away, but nothing worked. 

A loud knock on the door interrupted his thoughts, and he could just barely hear it over the alarm going off. “Baekhyun! Open up!” Suho shouted at his door, banging his fist on it. “The kitchen is on fire, we need to get out!”

Baekhyun was completely awake now, his body stiffening up in fear. The initial fear made his brain go haywire. Multiple scenarios that all had bad endings ran through his head in the few seconds it took him to stand up and sprint for the door. He unlocked it quickly, pulling it open to reveal his brother but his expression wasn’t how he thought it would be. It didn’t match the fear Baekhyun felt. It was more of an annoyed and angry look, and Baekhyun couldn’t tell if he wasn’t scared at all or was just really good at hiding his emotions. 

“I called the fire department, but I don’t think it’ll spread past the kitchen. At least, hopefully. There was something wrong with the stove.” Suho explained gripping his hand into Baekhyun’s to lead him downstairs. “But be careful, it’s really hot and it could be spewing shit, you never know.” 

“Like what?” Baekhyun asked, concerned. He stopped on the stairs, refusing to take another step down before he confirmed no flying burning objects would be hurling at him. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Suho sighed, tapping on his back to get him to start walking again. “Just keep walking, the quicker you go the quicker we get out of here.”

He walked downstairs quickly until the kitchen was visible. The entire stove was covered in bright flames, illuminating the room. There was a thin layer of smoke surrounding the room, making it slightly fogged, but still able to be seen through. A horrible smell, which he assumed was a mix of gas and smoke, surrounded him and seeped into his nose, making him do a double-take. When he was on the main floor, he paused to take another glimpse of the sweltering fire, the flames were drawing his eyes to them and he had a hard time looking away from them. 

“Keep walking!” Suho yelled, now in front of him pulling him along. He coughed a few times at the scent and the thickness of the air while holding his free hand to his face in fear of breathing in anything dangerous. 

They reached the front door, and Suho swung it open. Baekhyun was hit with a cool breeze of fresh air instantly, breathing in all the oxygen he could before his body suffocated due to the lack of it. The neighbourhood looked much lighter than he thought it would. Lights were on at almost every neighbouring house and the light from inside theirs was bright enough to light up the whole sky. 

“Why can’t we just put it out ourselves?” Baekhyun asked, not having any faith in his words. He didn’t want to be anywhere near the house right now, let alone trying to put out the fire. 

“Of course not! Do you know what happens when you try to put out a gas fire with water?” Suho argued. 

“Well, no.”

“It’s not a good result. We’re lucky I realized that before, I almost did throw a bucket of water on it. That would be a much bigger issue.”

Baekhyun gave a nod, assuming it would have just made it even worse. “How did this even happen? Are stoves supposed to just randomly catch on fire?” He questioned, wondering if there was an event that sparked it or if it was just simply something that could happen at any time. 

“I’m thinking Chanyeol left the gas on the stove on when he came over to cook, so when I went to turn the burner on to make some eggs, it lit on fire.” 

“Holy shit, are you okay?” Baekhyun asked, bringing his full attention over to his brother. “Did it burn you at all?” His body started tingling again, feeling guilty that he didn’t ask him how he was doing earlier. 

“I’m okay. It was a shocking moment, but I’ll get over it. I’m just happy it wasn’t big, and that you’re safe. I was worried it spread and trap you upstairs while you were asleep, so I ran up there first.”

His heart warmed for the concern his brother had for him. Any harsh thoughts he had about him over the past few days. He didn’t even have anything else to say, he couldn’t form words. Everything had happened so quickly and the past three minutes were some of the most stressful ones in his life. 

They stood in silence for a while, sitting on the driveway while listening to the muffled alarm continue to beep over and over, before Baekhyun decided to break the silence. “Are you sure that Chanyeol did this?” He suddenly didn’t feel bad about breaking his hand earlier. 

“I can’t say for sure, and I know it was probably an accident, but he _was_ the last one to use the stove so I don’t see how it could have been anyone else.” He answered. “But, let's just worry about that later. The main focus is the firefighters coming and helping the house.” He said, turning the topic away from Chanyeol. “You feel okay though, right?” 

“Yeah. I’m just cold.” He replied, blowing hot air into his hands and rubbing them together. They were both sitting outside in just their pyjamas in the middle of February, not the best time to have a house fire. 

“Good, because carbon monoxide is really dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” Baekhyun asked, alarmed once again. Every passing moment was just making him more and more concerned and frustrated at the situation and Chanyeol himself. 

“If you breathe in too much, yes. But I don’t think you need to worry about that. If you don’t feel bad now, you should be good.” He reassured, moving his arm to drape over Baekhyun’s shoulders, pulling him in closer. 

“If this was so dangerous on so many levels, why are you so calm about it?” Baekhyun wondered. 

“If I looked and sounded terrified, that would just make you more upset. Why show emotion when it’s not needed? Freaking out does nothing but cause more harm.”

Baekhyun nodded with acknowledgement. He didn’t know his brother thought that way. If this had happened to him, he would have likely had a heart attack right on the spot. 

The longer he sat in the cold road, the more frustrated he got. He thought about how Chanyeol was probably curled up asleep in his warm bed right now. Needless to say, he was pretty annoyed. “You need to call him.” He demanded Suho. “Tell him what happened, let’s see what he’ll do about this.” 

“I’m doing that right now.” He answered, already in the process of pulling out his phone. 

Baekhyun walked over to the curb to sit while his brother made the call. The firemen had shown up a few minutes ago and were busy in the house trying to clear out the fire. He curled himself into a ball and wrapped his arms around his legs to try to preserve some body warmth. 

Suho finished the call to Chanyeol, that Baekhyun tuned out, and sat next to him on the curb They huddled together, joining body heats together. He ran his hands up and down Baekhyun’s arms to warm them up a little 

“It’ll be okay.” He reassured. “Don’t worry. Chanyeol will be here soon and we can all sort this out. I don’t think he’s completely at fault here if it was an accident. I’m the one who didn’t do anything about it when I smelled something weird.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Baekhyun mumbled, resting his head on Suho’s shoulder. 

“I know,” was all he said before they sat in silence for a while, watching as the firemen attempt to rid the house of the fire. He let his mind drift away, letting the severity of it settle in for the first time. They wouldn’t be able to sleep in it tonight, where would they go? The repercussions of cleaning up the fire would include buying a completely new kitchen, which was both expensive and time-consuming. 

A few minutes into his thoughts, a small car pulled up. It was travelling quickly, whoever was in it was probably in a rush. The car eventually parked and out came a familiar face, with a completely different expression. He was wearing an oversized hoodie and long sweatpants. Baekhyun couldn’t see the figure very well, but by the silhouette, he could easily tell who it was. 

Baekhyun was just barely awake at this point. He was forcing his body to at least stay awake so he wasn’t completely oblivious to what was happening, he hated missing out on things. His body begged for rest, though, eager to be at rest so everything could be numb to the unbearable weather around them. 

When he heard it was Chanyeol who caused all of this, Baekhyun wasn’t sure if this whole thing was an accident or if it was done on purpose. It could have just been a setup to get back at him, which was one of the scenarios that had been running through his head all this time. However, once he saw the fear and worry build up in Chanyeol’s face, all of that was forgotten and he realized that his assumption was incorrect. He gave off a completely different vibe from the past two times he’d seen him. 

Chanyeol crouched down in front of them with a concerned expression coating his face. “Are you guys okay?” He asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the song i listened to while writing this was hey bae like you by izone, just thought id mention it cause of how good it is haha. my instagram is @jonginprint


	6. six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello im back!! its a little short, sorry :(( but i had a big writers block this week and all i wanted to do was sit at home watching youtube so i'm just glad i edited something this week, yay! 
> 
> things are getting places somewhat, yay!

“Yeah,” Suho responded quietly. 

With one glance, he could tell that his brother was tired as well. His eyes were barely staying open and his whole body shivered. His hair was a mess as well. The shock and adrenaline from the sudden alarm earlier had worn off and they were both just dead tired and ready to sleep

“Oh my god,” Chanyeol replied, rubbing his hands over his face. “This is crazy.” He muttered, remaining with his head laying in his palms for a few seconds before glancing back up to look at them. “Baekhyun, are you okay?” He asked directly. 

Baekhyun opened an eye slowly to look up at him. There was little light outside now but the majority of the world was still dark. Chanyeol’s eyes glistened with fear and worry, clashing against the absence of light. He had his mouth slightly open and glared directly into Baekhyun’s gaze. Too focused on him to do anything else, he just gave a simple nod. 

“You’re not feeling sick or anything?” He questioned, observing every part of Baekhyun. “I heard carbon monoxide is really dangerous, sometimes even deadly if you inhale too much of it.” 

Baekhyun opened his eyes completely, fully alert now. Deadly? So Chanyeol could have _killed_ them? He matched Chanyeol’s surprised and shocked expression and turned to Suho, who seemed unfazed by the news. 

“I think he’s just tired, but I’ll certainly keep an eye on him,” Suho responded, giving Baekhyun a small nod while wrapping his arm around his shoulders and pulling him in closer. Baekhyun relaxed a little before snuggling in closer, using his brothers’ legs as a pillow to lay down on. 

Chanyeol nodded slowly, still holding the same expression before sliding forward to sit next directly next to Baekhyun on the curb. He felt the man’s legs rub against him slightly and had the urge to scoot away from him, but didn’t have the energy for it. Plus, there’s a good chance Chanyeol would have just scooted closer. 

A few moments passed where they all sat in silence in this position, the only sound being the distant firemen and their hoses spraying water. Chanyeol eventually stood up and made his way towards his car. Baekhyun wondered if was leaving, why would he come in the first place if he was going to leave ten minutes later? But he came back with something large wrapped in his arms. The closer he got, the more it was made obvious that he was holding a large blanket. 

He walked up next to Baekhyun and crouched down, reaching his hand out. “Here.” He said while softly draping it over him. The warmth and comfort of the blanket was instantly refreshing and he hesitantly accepted the kind gesture, too tired to oppose to it. 

Any earlier tension that was in between them had now died off. Baekhyun felt much more comfortable and safe despite the current position they were in. He felt himself drifting off to sleep. 

\--

When Baekhyun woke up, he was not where he remembered falling asleep. The last thing he remembered was the soft blanket being placed on him. It was indeed still on him but the environment around him was completely different. Instead of laying on a cold curb, he felt the leather under him warming him up. He snuggled closer into the blanket, blinking his eyes up to take in the surroundings around him. He realized instantly that he was in a car by the way his body was squished into the small space and that he was about 2 seconds away from toppling over into the floor of the vehicle. His legs cramped when he moved them towards his body as he sat up. It looked like it was still dark out, but he wasn’t sure if it was still night time or just very early in the morning. 

“Are you up?” A voice asked from the front seat. It sounded hoarse and deep. He concluded that it was Chanyeol and he was most likely sitting in his car as well. 

“Where am I?” He asked. 

“You’re in my car,” Chanyeol responded, turning his head a little to glance back at him. “We’re waiting for your brother to bring out breakfast from McDonald's.”

Baekhyun nodded, unsure if Chanyeol was still looking at him or not. He was still confused as to what was going on but decided not to ask any more questions and to just let the events unfold. 

“How are you feeling, by the way?” Chanyeol asked again after a moment of silence.

“Fine.” He simply responded, closing off the possibility of any further conversation between them. 

Suho came back a few minutes later, opening the car door to place a plastic bag on the seat. His focus shifted to him instead of continuing to think about how he was supposed to be at school today, but instead he was in the back of Chanyeol’s car with currently no safe place to stay for the night. Was it even night?

“I got you eggs,” Suho said, handing a box back to Baekhyun in the backseat. He hesitantly accepted it but didn’t have any intention of eating it. 

“What about school?” Baekhyun asked. 

“What about it?” Suho replied.

“Don’t I need to go?”

“At five in the morning?”

“Well, if I’m going to go then it’ll need to be soon.” He pointed out. 

“We’ll get you to school, don’t worry.” Chanyeol interrupted.

Baekhyun glanced over to him with a side eye. “I never said I was worried about it.” He mumbled while sinking into his seat, secretly hoping that nobody heard him. 

“We’re heading over to Chanyeol’s now. He offered to let us stay with him for the time being!” Suho said, turning back to look at Baekhyun with a smile.

Baekhyun’s instincts brought his eyes to immediately look up at his bother with a dissatisfied look. He raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes, slowly shaking his head while not breaking any eye contact. Suho rolled his eyes back at him, bringing his hand to his throat and waving it side to side. “I’m sure you’ll love it there, Baekhyun.” He said, ignoring all of Baekhyun’s cries for help. 

“My apartment isn’t big, but I’m sure it’ll be enough room for the three of us for a little while. Don’t worry, Baekhyunie.” Chanyeol butted in.

Baekhyun’s ears almost tuned out the nickname that fell out of Chanyeol’s mouth. He hated that nickname. Everything about it, he hated. The fact that Chanyeol was the one calling him that just made it so much more unbearable. He felt the heat on his body rise, even more when he checked on Suho in the front seat and saw no reaction from him. He let a deep breath out of his body in frustration, wrapping his hands in the blanket. 

“Don’t call me that.” He warned with his teeth clenched.

“Why not? I think it’s cute.” Chanyeol replied with a small chuckle, currently stuffing his face with pancakes. 

“Because I don’t like it.”

“Alright, whatever you say little guy.” He teased, obviously not affected by Baekhyun’s sudden shift in tone. “Anyway, we should get on the road now. I want to be able to get some more sleep before it’s time to go to work.” He paused to turn around to look at Baekhyun “And time for you to go to school.”

Baekhyun groaned, sinking himself further into his seat, reminded that he was still in high school no matter how much he pretended he wasn’t. He’d do anything to not go to school today, but he knew Suho wouldn’t allow it. He values education over everything else, hoping that the more Baekhyun is exposed to school, then the better he would get at it. It never worked. Almost never. Like literally, _never_ , but that didn’t stop Suho from trying. 

Besides, he’d at least get to go to football practice today. 

They arrived at Chanyeol’s apartment complex a few minutes later, and Baekhyun couldn’t even describe his desire to not enter the building at all. The looks of it just turned him off. It wasn’t that it was bad looking, but it was good looking. _Too_ good looking for his liking. The outside of it looked very modern and large with up-to-date trends littered all around the lot. He hoped the inside looked just as perfect as the outside, so he could have at least have a nice place to stay in, even if it was owned by Chanyeol. His expectations were already high for it judging by the type of person Chanyeol is, but they skyrocketed once he saw the elegant outside. 

And in fact, it did. Chanyeol’s apartment was beautiful. Not a thing was out of place. He hated how nice it looked, now feeling somewhat embarrassed of where he lived. The blinds complimented the rugs, and the cabinets matched the floor. Everything was perfectly organized where it should be with not a thing out of place. Even the picture frames fit the white-grey theme. How is he able to afford something this nice?

“Sorry, it’s a little messy. I wasn’t exactly expecting company” He mentioned, rubbing his hand through his hair with a nervous laugh. “But you’re free to make yourself at home. There’s a couch and a guest room, you guys can decide who gets what.”

“You have a guest room?” Suho asked. 

“I know, I thought it was dumb at first too, but I guess I did end up needing it.” Chanyeol shrugged. “There’s food in the pantry, although there’s not much of it. The bathroom is down the hall if you need it.”

“If?”

“Well, when you need it.” He corrected himself, walking further into the house to stop at one of the first doors. “Anyways, I’m pooped from the day so I’m going to bed now. If you need anything or there’s an emergency, you can wake me but if you’re able to figure it out yourself then that would be preferred. Goodnight!” He said, stepping through a door then shutting it directly after. 

Baekhyun put his hands on his hips and looked at Suho, annoyed by the sudden disappearance of the host. “Why have people over if you’re just going to leave them on their own?” He asked out loud.

“Did he say where the guest room was?” Suho asked, ignoring his brother's comment. 

“You heard the man. ‘Figure it out yourself.’” He mocked. “He’s so annoying, damn” Baekhyun huffed while making his way over to the couch that was in the living room. It only took one simple sit on the couch to realize that he was going to have a hard time falling asleep on it. It felt like he was laying on a coloured brick with decorative pillows. 

“Guess you’ll have the couch then. Sweet dreams, Baekhyun.” Suho said, turning around to look through the house to find the guest room. He cursed himself for being so eager to take the couch at first

Great, he thought. This was going to be a rough night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my insta is @jonginprint :))


	7. seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i uploaded this one a day earlier cause im on break now and have some more time to write! hope you all enjoy it. i have a lot of ideas for this story in the future and am even planning ideas for a sequel, im really excited to show you guys what it is! im always really thankful for everyone reading and enjoying it, i hope im providing well! the comments are really appreciated too, they make me really happy <3
> 
> since i am on break, i might end up releasing another chapter in a few days because of the free time i have, we'll see what i get done! for now, this is what i have edited. its a little boring, i know, but i promise it'll be getting more interesting soon. 
> 
> anyways, happy reading!

Baekhyun barely got any more sleep, as expected. The unfamiliar and hard couch made his back and shoulders ache. He knew he needed to be up in less than 2 hours so there was also too much on his mind. The sleepiness he felt earlier had worn off and he was just laying there with no blankets, he didn’t know where they were and didn’t feel like awakening the beast. He was all alone in his thoughts while staring at the plain ceiling, which was much nicer than he was expecting it to be. 

Though, he didn’t really know what to expect when he walked in here. 

After a few hours of thinking, and it being the time he needed to go to school, he realized he had no idea where he was. Not in the house, he was aware he was on a couch, but the location of the house. He was paying no attention to the coordinations on the drive here and didn’t have the mindset to ask Chanyeol a few hours earlier. 

He didn’t know what to do, doubting Suho or Chanyeol would wake up on their own at this hour considering he didn’t know how much sleep they got in the car. His car was still at his house, which crossed out that option. He didn’t even know if there was a bus around here that would lead him to the correct school. 

Eventually, he got up and turned on one of the lights, deciding to look around a little in the dark for anything that would be of help, though he didn’t know what he was expecting to find. He pulled his phone out of one of Chanyeol’s chargers. The time read 7:43, and school started at 8:30. He didn’t know if he could afford another tardy this year and still stay on the football team, so he grew much more concerned. He quickly realized that his backpack was still at his house and all hope he had about making school on time fell instantly. Even if he was there on time, how would he go to school without any of his schoolwork? His own house was off limits, they weren’t even allowed to access it. 

He blindly walked around the house for a while, taking in his surroundings all by touch, wondering if this was how blind people felt. He didn’t remember where any of the light switches were so his only source of light was coming from the windows around the house. He tiptoed through the house, opening doors and glancing in with his phone flashlight, praying that none of the doors he peeked into would be Chanyeol’s. 

He eventually came across a door that had snoring sounds that he recognized seeping through the door crack into the rest of the house. He was suddenly thankful for his recurring habit. “Suho?” He asked softly, poking his head in the door. When he got no response, he headed in farther, tiptoeing through the room as he was unaware of the layout. He felt around for his body and gave him some light taps. “Wake up, I need to go to school.” He said. 

The older just groaned and turned over, completely ignoring him. Baekhyun rolled his eyes, wondering if this is how Suho felt waking him up every morning. He pushed him a few times, getting a little harder each time until he finally blinked one eye open. 

“Just don’t go.” He muttered, rubbing his face with his hands. 

“Okay.” Baekhyun shrugged, already on his way out of the room. 

“Wait, come back.” Suho jutted in, forcefully sitting up in bed. “You thought I was serious? You’re not getting off the hook that easily.” He laughed, shoving the covers off of himself. “Are you ready? I can take you now and just go into work later.” 

Baekhyun sighed, turning back around to face Suho. “But I don’t have any of my school work.” He pointed out.

“You’ll just have to go without it today. I’m sure the teachers would understand.” Suho answered. 

“But I don’t have a backpack!” He argued.

“Baekhyun, you’ll be fine. It’s just one day. Tonight we can swing by the house and pick anything up we need to, okay? I’m sure they’ll let us by then, right? If not, we can get you one at the store later.” Suho reasoned, urging Baekhyun out of the room. “And you can stay after for football practice today, I think you deserve it.”

Baekhyun smiled, happy to hear it from Suho directly. Even though he figured he would be going already and planned on it. He moved a little more willingly out to the kitchen to grab some breakfast after Suho finally turned on the light switch for him. 

“I’ll just borrow Chanyeol’s car and hope I don’t crash it.”

-

He sat on the bench, completely wiped out from the day before practice had even started. He found it difficult to focus throughout the entire day. He was busy constantly thinking of the house and more importantly, Chanyeol. Everything was just clouding his mind and made it difficult to focus on school. Plus, he was dead tired. 

He had spent the entire day explaining to numerous teachers his situation and why he doesn’t have any of his work done, but only two believed him and one of those was kind enough to sympathize with him. They thought it was just an excuse, which just made him even more annoyed. 

He couldn’t wait to be at football practice and to throw around some balls as hard as he could, imaging that they were his teacher's heads. The thought made him smile. 

“You’re back!” His teammate, Sehun exclaimed while walking up to him. He sat down on the bench next to him and gave him a quick pat on the back. “We all missed having you here, it easily showed. You’re probably one of the best, if not the best, players on the team. Having you not here was difficult, even for coach."

“Yeah, I can imagine,” Baekhyun said with a smile. He knew he was the best, but hearing others say it just meant so much more to him. The thought of being back on the team made him happier then he had been in days. He was itching to get out there, rushing to the locker room as fast as he could after school. 

It was like a breath of fresh air in a world full of poisonous gas, literally.

“We had to run extra while you were gone, you better be lucky you weren’t here for that.” Sehun chuckled, opening up his gym locker to get his uniform. “Why were you out anyway? Something to do with your brother? We were all kinda confused.”

“Yeah, there were some family issues that needed to be figured out but it’s all worked out now.” He smiled, knowing he was lying through his teeth. In fact, things just got even more complicated as of this morning. But he didn’t need any of the team to know about his situation. They didn’t need too, it’s none of their business. He’s worried they might either view him as weak and feel bad for him, both being things he despises and would hate it if they were to happen. 

“Well, that’s good. As long as that’s over. We better get going then, coach is waiting.” Sehun said, urging Baekhyun forwards and to the door. 

They exited the locker room and Baekhyun felt refreshed by the cool air around him. The field was just how he left it, open and free. He missed the smell of the grass, and outside air, even if it was moderately cold outside. He wasn’t going to complain, he was just ready to play. The minute they rushed over to begin practice, Baekhyun immediately felt at home. Football was something he’d been playing for as long as he could remember. It was always his go-to whenever he was bored, he never got tired of it. He still remembers tossing balls back in forth with his parents when he was younger, and later on with Suho. The familiar leather of the ball would take his mind off of anything, which is why he enjoyed it so much. It was the one thing he could completely submerge his mind into without distractions. He thinks that’s why he’s so good at it. When he’s on the field, there’s nothing else that he’s thinking of but getting the ball. 

They went through practice like normal. Sprints, drills, all the usual. It didn’t last very long before he started to get more and more exhausted, feeling his heart race and generally feeling unwell. He kept missing the ball too, which was unusual for him. The teammates looked around at him with curious eyes, wondering what was up with him today.

“What’s up with you today, Byun? You’re not playing well.” The coach asked after a few minutes. He was sitting on the bench with his hands in his head, drowning himself with water. He felt extremely warm, despite the temperature being cool outside. He felt like he could fall asleep at any minute. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah.” He responded, picking his head up. “I’m just getting back into the groove of things.” He said with a fake smile and a quick thumbs up. 

The more he played, the more he regretted not falling back to sleep. The four hours he got barely lasted him through the school day, and he was really feeling the downside of it right now. He’d used up all of his previous energy and didn’t feel like running after the ball as he had earlier. He didn’t feel like doing anything at all. 

“What's wrong? You don't seem like you’re into it.” Sehun said, tossing him a bottle of water halfway into practice. 

“I’m just tired.” He replied, not feeling like saying anything else. 

“Alright, well, you better play harder or coach isn’t going to be happy. You missed a few practices, you have to convince him you still want to be here.” He warned.

Baekhyun gave a small nod, only half listening.

They got back onto the practice field, he caught a few balls here and there, passing them over to his teammates for the next twenty minutes. Before he was able to realize it, he felt a wave of dizziness rush over him, covering his vision with a slate of blurriness. He paused in the field for a moment and held his arms out to rebalance himself. 

“Baekhyun? Are you okay? You kind of stumbled a little.” Sehun asks him, balancing his body with his arms. 

“I’m fine, just lost my balance.” He replied.

He continued to play like normal, a little shaky, but still fine. But not more than 30 seconds later,  
the dizziness hit him again. This time he felt it throughout his entire body, he felt like he weighed a thousand pounds, but was as light as a feather at the same time. His vision crowded with stars and before he knew it, he had dropped to the floor, panting. He didn’t even remember it happening, but just felt himself land on the field. He moved a hand to try to push himself up, but was unsuccessful and immediately fell right back down. He then moved his arms to bring to his head, trying to grasp what was happening around him and to stabilize his vision. His head was still spinning rounds even a few seconds after.

He remained lying flat on his back for a few minutes, hoping his vision would clear, but he was met with no such luck. He took notice of the people crowding around him now, watching down on him with confused eyes. Moments passed and he hadn’t moved or changed, his breaths still coming out in heaves. He glanced up at the blue sky, starting to think that maybe attending practice wasn’t the best idea he’s ever had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> instagram: @jonginprint


	8. eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im back! i told myself i would update again and here i am, updating again. yayy
> 
> also for their last name, ive decided to just keep byun baekhyun and suho can be byun suho IDK i didnt really think this through but. oh well
> 
> also i realized im using their real names yet im using suho, but to be honest suho is just easier to type thats why i used it. but everyone else will have their real name used! 
> 
> next update will be next week on wednesday/thursday. normal time. thanks for reading!!! :DDDDD hope you guys enjoy
> 
> i know it seems really repetitive at this part and a little later too but i promise we're getting places, i already have a lot of the upcoming events written and i hope itll be worth your wait! thank you for sticking by and reading, whoever is :)) i dont know if anyone even reads these notes but i like to do them anyway haha.

“Kim, help Byun.” He heard the coach say to one of the other team members, assuming it was Jongdae. A few moments later, he felt a grip on his armpits and felt his body being tugged upwards. “Bring him to the bench.”

Jongdae supported his upper body as he moved his legs as much as he could, which was not all that much. He generally felt unwell, and the thought of moving just made his head spin even more. “Come on, what’s wrong with you? You can’t walk?” Jongdae asked, concerned. He was basically carrying all of Baekhyun’s body weight while his feet dragged across the ground. He just wanted to see correctly again, he couldn’t stand not having full control of how his body functioned. 

He stumbled once again as his body was laid down onto the bench. The cool bench felt amazing on his back. He was so tired, he wanted to sleep, but he’d probably just cause more trouble like that. He stayed in this position for a few minutes while Jongdae poured some freezing water onto his face, making him more alert and confused. “Why’d you do that.” He mumbled, rubbing his face a little

“I thought you could use it,” Jongdae responded with a shrug, taking a seat next to him. 

The coach came up to him a few moments later, disturbing the silence that lingered between him and Jongdae. “Byun, what’s wrong?” He asked, putting a hand over his forehead, probably to check his temperature. “Is something happening that I’m not aware of?” 

Baekhyun blinked open one eye, but could not locate where the voice was coming from. He was facing upwards, which just made the sun 100 times more visible and brighter right into his eyes. “No, I just got really dizzy for some reason” He replied with a small voice, not wanting to use too much of his energy. “I didn’t sleep very well last night, that might be why.” He paused for a breath in between. 

“Well, I think you’re done for today. I’ll call your brother to come get you.” The coach said, giving Baekhyun a few taps on his stomach. 

Baekhyun opened both eyes, and searched around for the coach’s eyes so he could make direct eye contact.“No, please don’t,” he tried to plead, not wanting to cause any more trouble to his brother by making him leave work to pick him up. He was already in a puddle of hot water with Suho and didn’t want to make it any worse. He could easily take football away from him for as long as he wanted. Before he could protest any further, the coach was already on the phone. He took a few steps away while talking, and Baekhyun used that time to express his distaste for the situation. He groaned many times, leading to Jongdae giving him a light shove and a whiney ‘be quiet.’

“Do you need help going to the locker room? Or do you think you have it?” The coach asked once he finished. “Your brother said he’d be right over, best to get changed before he gets here.”

He shrugged and attempted to stand up but immediately fell back onto the bench with little success. He rubbed the back of his neck with embarrassment, but luckily Sehun had come over and was there to help him. They made their way over to the locker room. Baekhyun gained a little more strength in his legs, which he was beyond thankful for, and they traveled much quicker than he had with Jongdae earlier. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Sehun asked while they were on the middle of their trek. “Are you sick?”

“No.” He mumbled. “I just had a rough night.” 

“If you say so.”

When they got in, he sat quietly on one of the benches while Sehun dug through his locker and threw his school clothes at him. He awkwardly watched Baekhyun while he struggled to get undressed, but didn’t bother asking to help. He knew Baekhyun wouldn’t want the help. 

They sat there in silence and waited for a while. The coach had made Sehun stay with him while they waited for Suho to come back. It wasn’t a short wait either. They talked a little about school and the team, but the topic of his mysterious disappearance from the team didn’t come up again. 

They both heard the gym door open and he looked up to see someone he was not expecting to see. It was Chanyeol. What was he doing here? He widened his eyes with surprised and his face turned into a small scowl. He was speechless, words not forming in his mouth. His brain was fuzzy, not producing any thoughts except for extreme confusion. His expression didn’t change when Chanyeol walked over to him and he didn’t even move away when he placed a hand onto his shoulders. 

“Hey, how are you doing feeling?” Chanyeol asked. His voice sounded slightly out of breath, but that’s how he always sounded to Baekhyun. 

When Baekhyun looked up. Sehun was leaning on the lockers and glaring at Chanyeol. He mouthed ‘Who is this?’ To Baekhyun, but he was too distracted to respond. His large body was placed in front of him which gave him a perfect view of his dick, once again. He felt a sense of deja vu in this position, and not in a good way. 

The environment was different than last time, though. He knew Chanyeol wasn’t particularly angry at him this time, even if he wasn’t really last time either, but he didn’t have any urge to beat him up this time. He was just confused as to why he was here instead of Suho. 

“Your brother told me to come.” He stated after Baekhyun never responded to his last question. He barely even realized it was asked, too distracted to hear it. 

“He _asked_ you to come?” Baekhyun questioned. There’s no reason Suho would do that, no way, especially after knowing how much he dislikes Chanyeol. This didn’t sound believable to him at all. 

“Well, I actually offered.” He chuckled slightly. “He told the office that he would have to leave work early to pick you up, and I knew he had a lot of work to do, so I thought I would offer to pick you up instead. He gave me the directions and everything, so here I am. We can head home whenever you’re ready.”

Baekhyun looked around awkwardly, still not convinced. Suho must have been real fucking busy to send Chanyeol instead of going himself. “Why were you guys still at work so late?” He asked, wanting some more clarification on this. 

“We had to catch up on things,” He answered almost instantly. “It’s really busy this time of year.”

“What things did you have to catch up on?” He asked.

“Are you always this nosy? You barely spoke last time I saw you.”

“I’m just wondering why you had to come instead of him.” He huffed, rolling his eyes and turning away from Chanyeol. 

“Why not? You don’t like me?” Chanyeol teased. “Let’s get going now, we can talk more in the car.” He stated, reaching his arm out for Baekhyun to grab. If it was any other situation he would have smacked it away but right now, he needed the extra support. He gave a quick goodbye to the confused Sehun before following Chanyeol out the door. 

They got to the car and Baekhyun naturally got into the backseat, closing the door behind him. 

“You don’t want to sit up here with me?” Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun sighed, keeping his eyes out the window to watch the landscape go by. He just wanted to be in his room in his own bed, sleeping like he had nothing to do. He thought about everything that’s been happening lately, and how Chanyeol basically shoved himself into his life. And for what reason? Doesn’t he have better things to do then to pick him up from school? He slowly let his eyes close, hoping to drift off to sleep, but that idea was scrapped when Chanyeol opened his mouth again and began yapping. 

“I’m guessing you’re just tired and stressed, that can easily make you not feel good. As well as shock, that can contribute too.” He said. 

Baekhyun questioned how random the statement was, but he shrugged anyway. “I guess.” 

“What is this? Now you don’t want to talk to me? Make up your mind, are you talkative or not?” Chanyeol emphasized. “If I’m going to get to know you I’d rather not be sent conflicting signals.” 

“What?” Baekhyun asked, confused. He wanted to get to know him? “Who said I wanted to talk to you?” He added in a lower voice, still not confident enough to talk back to the older again. 

“I’m just saying, you’re kind of confusing me here.” He replied, hands gripping the wheel and eyes focused straight ahead on the road. 

“I’m the one confusing _you_?” Baekhyun snorted, unable to hold back his distaste anymore. He straightened himself up in his seat and projected his voice out louder. “I don’t understand what your deal is. Why are you here in the first place? Did I want you to come?” He scoffed, barely even understanding why he was getting frustrated. He just had to yell, he needed someone to be mad at and Chanyeol seemed like that perfect someone. He wanted to add how deeply interested he seems in his life, despite interrogating him in a bathroom stall during their first meeting. And usually, people wouldn’t want to be around someone who intentionally injured them. 

So what was the deal with Park Chanyeol? 

“Hey, I’m just trying to be helpful!” Chanyeol defended. “Get off of my dick.”

Baekhyun scoffed. “Really? You’re saying that? So much for maturity.” He shook his head, knowing that if he was in the front seat, the car would be in the nearest tree by now. 

But after that, neither of them said anything else. The only sound that remained the rest of the way home was the light hum of the road.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- <3


	9. nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone im back!! Finally yayyy. I did change my username but that's not really important. This one is so cute omg i love it. 
> 
> Here's the next chapter!! 
> 
> I really hope to stay on schedule but unfortunately there is a LOT of things going on these next few weeks in school so i really don't know. But i have some chapters built up so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
> 
> I've also decided to “edit” some of the story some more, which is basically just adding in more shit and making parts more clearer and descriptive. Hope you enjoy reading the next part of their adventure!!

A few minutes later, the arrived at the apartment. Baekhyun felt much better, but his senses were still slightly off and he couldn’t close the door all the way so Chanyeol had to help him. Which just made him want to die of embarrassment. He was acting like a real gentleman, opening up the doors for him and letting him enter first, but he never offered to help him up. Which, he was okay with. That would just make things so much more awkward between them. He was already uncomfortable being here alone with Chanyeol, so physical contact was not in his top list of desires for tonight. 

Chanyeol fumbled with the door a little before unlocking it, holding it open for Baekhyun to walk in. “You can get on the couch.” He gestured his hand over to Baekhyun’s lovely sleeping place while locking the door behind them. He let out an inaudible sigh, not looking forward to sitting on that couch again. He stumbled just slightly but Chanyeol threw out his arms to grab onto his shoulders before he was even able to register what was happening. He let out a quick breath before forcefully removing himself from Chanyeol’s grip, which he eventually let go of. 

“Why are you doing this? Really, I’m confused.” Baekhyun asked, a little harsher than he would have intended too. He was tired of his, and he didn’t understand why Chanyeol kept doing the absolute most. He understands letting them stay at his house, considering he’s the one who caused this whole ordeal in the first place, but wanting to pick him up from school? It seems a bit much. “Why do you keep trying to help me?” 

“You’re a little repetitive, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol responded, not even hesitating. He wasn’t paying any attention to him at all anymore. He travelled to the kitchen and was opening the cabinets while pulling out a pan. “If you’re going to keep yelling at me, the least you could do it sit down first before you pass out and your brother kills me.”

“I. Am. Fine.” Baekhyun huffed through gritted teeth. He felt the temperature in his body rise, and it wasn’t due to his dizziness. “You’ve made it pretty obvious that you don’t like me, so I just don’t understand!”

“Who said I didn’t like you?” Chanyeol asked from somewhere in the kitchen. 

“I thought you made it pretty obvious when you pushed me into the bathroom.” He argued. What was wrong with Chanyeol? Does he forget things that quickly?

He heard the rustling stop for a minute, guessing that Chanyeol was thinking of an answer. “Well, maybe that wasn’t the best approach, but I don’t hate you Baekhyun. I was just curious, you intrigued me.” He clarified. “If I hated you, you’d probably know by now.” He said amusingly then continued to dig in the kitchen cabinets.

“Well, I thought I did,” Baekhyun mumbled, crossing his arms. He glared at the floor, undoubtedly uncomfortable. He knew Chanyeol didn’t feel the same tension in the air that he did. He was so carefree. The only thing on his mind is probably cleaning the kitchen. 

“Just go ahead and lay down,” Chanyeol said. “You can watch tv if you want. Whatever the kids nowadays do, I don’t really know.”

“I’m not a kid.” He responded, hesitantly making his way towards the couch. If Chanyeol wanted to be a dick, he could be a dick back. 

“You still have homework and are still required to live with an adult.”

“So?”

“I’m going to get started on dinner and wait for your brother to get home,” Chanyeol said, ignoring Baekhyun, which just made him more frustrated. He found the remote to the tv somewhere and thought he would pass time by watching some. Not like he had many other options other than chat with Chanyeol. 

Which, he never would choose to do willingly. 

After a few moments of silence, Baekhyun finally spoke up. He swore himself he would never talk to this man but his curiosity was eating at him. “You don’t have to go back to work?” He asked. Wondering why Suho was still gone while he was stuck here alone with Chanyeol. 

“It’s 6pm, why would I go back to work?” He laughed slightly. “But if you’re wondering about your brother, he should be home in about half an hour.”

He sighed with annoyance. The time in between now and Suho coming home felt like a billion years to him. Chanyeol was being loud in the kitchen, moving everything around and making whatever he was making. Baekhyun could barely focus on what was going on in the show he was watching so he just turned it off and closed his eyes, hoping for a few more minutes of sleep. 

Suho barged in a few minutes after, awakening Baekhyun instantly. Not that he was sleeping, though, but it surely did startle him. He stomped inside, kicking his shoes off while scanning the room for his brother. 

Once he found him, he looked overjoyed. “Baekhyun!” He said with a smile, walking over to envelop him with a hug. “How are you?”

“I’m doing better.” He responded, glad that Suho had finally come home. He was tired of sitting on the couch like a brick, afraid to move and make noise while Chanyeol was in the other room. He just wanted him to forget like he was here at all, and he thinks that he did, until Suho burst in. 

“That’s good, I was worried about you.” He said, running his hands through Baekhyun’s hair for a few seconds before Baekhyun whacked his hand away. “What, you don’t like that?” Suho teased, rubbing his hands through even quicker. 

“Stop!” Baekhyun whined. “You’re going to mess up my hair.” 

“It’s not like it wasn’t already messy before.” He teased. 

“I’m going to head to the store to pick up some bread for tonight. It seems like the bread I already had went stale, so I’ll be right back.” Chanyeol interrupted, projecting his voice across the room. “Is there anything you guys need from the store?” He asked. 

Suho shook his head in response, giving Baekhyun a nice head massage. “No, I think we're good for now, thank you though.”

He nodded with a quick wave and shut the door. Baekhyun was free once again. Once he was gone, the brothers spent their time watching whatever was on the food network. He looked at the meals on the television and it didn’t take him long to remember that Chanyeol was going to cook for them tonight. He hoped it would be as good as the shrimp was, maybe even better. Either way, he was excited. But he wondered, would Chanyeol be cooking them a meal every night? Does he always do this, even when he has no guests over?

He thought a lot about Chanyeol and what kind of a person he is. He’s only seen him four different times, which would usually be enough to determine the personality of someone, but he’s still confused about Chanyeol. The times he’s met it’s almost like he’s meeting a completely different person. At this point, Chanyeol could return as some drunk man in his 50’s and he probably wouldn’t even question it. 

“Is Chanyeol your boss?” Baekhyun blurted out. He’d been wondering, if Chanyeol is supposedly younger than his brother, then how is he in a higher position than him? Was he just so extremely good at his job that he rose to the top rapidly? He found that extremely hard to believe. 

“Boss? I wouldn’t exactly say that. But he is above me. He rose positions really quickly, actually.” Suho begins as Baekhyun let out a small huff, annoyed that his prediction was correct. “He has more power, more impact and takes care of a lot of the companies business. I think it’s because he’s so outspoken and honest, which makes him very likeable.” Suho replied.

“Likeable?” Baekhyun questioned, barely letting Suho finish his sentence. “Likeable?” He repeated, “I don’t think that’s a word I would use to describe him.” He folded his arms and crossed his feet, resting them on the edge of the couch. He could barely believe his ears. Suho must really like Chanyeol, especially if he’s in a higher position than him.

“I get that you don’t care for him, but he’s not as bad as you think.” He said, moving off of the couch to avoid having Baekhyun’s legs on top of him and onto a nearby chair. “Sure, he does have a temper and sometimes makes questionable decisions, but that’s just his personality. It’s who he is. Actions say a lot about a person's personality.” He added. 

“Well duh. And his actions are telling me that his personality sucks.” Baekhyun sneered, secretly hoping Chanyeol doesn’t open the door any time soon and hear his thoughts about him. He didn’t believe nor understand the words that came out of Suho’s mouth. He thought his brother had better judgement than this. “Why do you talk so highly of him? He’s not here right now, you can be honest with me.”

“I’m serious! He’s someone I admire.” H explained. “He was even really worried about you earlier, even more than I was.”

Baekhyun raised his eyebrows in confusion, half expecting Suho to say ‘sike’ then laugh at him. “Really? It didn’t seem like it when he picked me up.”

“And that’s just it. He gets over things so quickly. I’ve never met someone who can completely change their emotions and opinions so quickly. At work, he uses that skill to his advantage by being able to work with anyone, and I mean literally anyone. It’s really interesting, actually. I, myself, could never do that.” He continued on, talking for a while about what Chanyeol does and doesn’t do at work. 

Baekhyun lost interest rapidly and passed time before dinner by counting how many different books Chanyeol kept in his bookshelves. There had to be over a hundred, maybe two. They dotted the entire centre of the room, the bookcase framing the television perfectly. It was beautiful, something he would never see in most houses nowadays. It almost served as an indication of how supposedly smart Chanyeol was supposed to be. It got him interested, to say the least. 

“Okay. He may be great at work but I don’t go to work with you guys. So the only chance I get to judge him is when he’s _not_ at work. And when he’s not at work, he’s shitty.” Baekhyun spoke once he heard his brother stop blabbing. 

“If that’s what you think.” Suho sighed, standing up. “I guess I can’t convince you then.”

-

Baekhyun hated to admit it, but the dinner he had tonight was one of the best ones he’s had in a while. It was even better than the one last night, which was difficult to beat. He felt so full after but in a good way. His mood had been lifted and everything in the world seemed perfect. Chanyeol somehow managed to make chicken, a type of meat he’s disliked for at least six years now, taste _so damn good_. The second he put the fork into his mouth, he felt the incredible taste and delicacy melt in his mouth and his taste buds were left begging for more. 

“There’s leftovers, do you want them for lunch tomorrow Baekhyun?” Chanyeol asked as he was cleaning up the kitchen. He picked up Baekhyun’s plate, which was almost spotless, and stuck it into the dishwasher. 

“I just buy lunch at school.” He responded.

“Well, it’s never too late for a change!” He said happily, pulling out a plastic container from the cupboards. “Now, you won’t have to buy lunch again! This way actually saves a lot of money and it is far tastier if I do say so myself.” He beamed, flashing a small smile. 

Baekhyun raised his eyebrows and whipped his head back to make eye contact with Suho. He mouthed ‘every night?’ to him, hoping he could interpret what he was trying to say.

“You’re cooking for us every night that we're here?” Suho asked Chanyeol. 

“Of course, what else would I do?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- <3


	10. ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took me so long to edit idk why but, hope yall enjoy! actually kinda liked how this one turned out

“Of course, what else would I do?” He asked. “There’s no point in cooking just for myself, so I usually don’t. Now that I have people to cook for, I have a reason to do it again. I actually really enjoy it, so I don’t mind it at all if that’s what you’re worried about.” Chanyeol continued, taking a few steps around the kitchen. Baekhyun noticed that he rarely stayed in place while speaking as if it was boring to him. He would go around touching things, observing them and even cleaning whatever he was that was messy. It wasn’t hard to tell that he liked to keep his house orderly and nice, even when there weren’t guests around. 

“Well, we will look forward to it,” Suho replied in a thankful tone, walking over to where Baekhyun was still sitting at the table. He put one hand on his shoulders and gave them a little squeeze. “Right Baekhyun?”

“Yeah.” He mumbled, thinking about how much more of this he could take. Despite the generosity, he knows that Chanyeol is offering to them by giving them fresh and nicely cooked food every night, he still hated it. He’d rather eat fast food if it meant he wouldn’t have to deal with this all the time. 

The way Chanyeol communicated and went about his daily life was enough to set Baekhyun off. Not physically, of course, but it was mentally draining to him. Every piece of him was just so damn confusing. He feels like he knows every single detail about him but at the same time, Chanyeol feels like a complete stranger to him, and not in a good way. The more he talks just makes Baekhyun even more confused. It’s almost like he’s not sincere about his personality at all like it’s all completely fake and just a front made by him. 

Baekhyun wondered what the real Chanyeol was really like. So many questions continued to race through his head and he’d never been so confused but so deeply intrigued at the same time. He was hard to pinpoint, but that just made Baekhyun pay even more attention. He told himself he would find out. 

He would find out who Chanyeol is.

-

He awoke with a jolt. A loud clunk coming from somewhere around the house forced him awake before he was ready to be. He let out a loud groan while kicking the blanket off of him, annoyed by another restless night. The texture of the couch wasn’t as big of a complaint anymore, but his mind was swimming with thoughts and ideas that made it difficult to settle down for the night. It’d been happening almost every single night he’s here, being either too restless to fall asleep or having too much on his mind. He picked up his phone from the counter table and looked at the clock. It was time for school. He sighed, knowing he had to get up anyway. 

He heard more sounds coming from the kitchen, much quieter than the one that woke him up. The lights were on, indicating that someone was indeed in there and it wasn’t just Baekhyun’s imagination running wild. He trudged his way over there, rubbing his eyes open a few times before taking a look at who it was.

“Why couldn’t you have let me wake up on my own?” He groaned, sitting down on one of the counter chairs. 

“Sorry, did that wake you?” Suho asked rhetorically with a smile. He was already dressed for the day with a white shirt and dress pants on, the suit top hanging off of one of the chairs. “I was just about to wake you up. Chanyeol and I decided it would be more effective to just carpool to work instead of taking separate cars to go to the same place, so we’ll drop you off at school on the way. How does that sound?”

“Fine.” He mumbled, pulling out a box of cereal while still half asleep. His brain hadn’t completely registered that riding with them both would mean that Chanyeol would be in the car, with him, on the way to school. Any other time of the day he would have protested but for now, he just wanted to eat Lucky Charms in peace. 

“Good.” Suho replied, taking a few steps closer to him. “I also want to talk about something concerning, your grades.” He crossed his arms, looking at Baekhyun with raised eyebrows. 

Baekhyun immediately rolled his eyes, turning his attention away from Suho. “You say this every week. I told you I’ll work harder, didn’t I?”

“You do, but it’s not reflecting! Baekhyun, I rarely ever see you do school work. If you tell me you’re going to work harder, then you actually should. You can’t graduate with these grades, you really can’t!”

“They’re not that bad!” He argued back. He knew this wouldn’t end well, it never does. It’s one of the few things he could go the rest of his life without talking about and he wouldn’t complain. He just had no interest in school, it wasn’t worth his time.

“You’re failing three classes, Baekhyun!” Suho yelled, voice gradually elevating.

“You’re failing three classes?” A voice asked from the other side of the house. Baekhyun whipped his head around to see Chanyeol, who walked out of his room wearing similar attire to Suho and a confused expression on his face. “Really?”

“Shut up!” Baekhyun yelled back angrily. Why did Chanyeol have to get involved? He stood up from his seat while holding onto his breakfast bowl and placed it in the sink, half debating whether or not he should throw it. He faced the wall, emotions of irritation and annoyance building up in his body. He’s sure it’s written all over his face too. 

“See, aren’t you embarrassed by people finding out?” Suho argued. 

“I’m just annoyed that he’s butting in.” He defended, knowing it wasn’t true at all. Having Chanyeol find a weakness in him is his worst nightmare. He wondered if would tease, scold or turn into a second Suho. Either way, this was something he wanted to keep a secret. And he’s upset that Suho did the exact opposite of that. “Senior year isn’t easy, I’m trying my best.” He repeated, hoping it would be at least a little convincing. 

“Your best? I rarely ever see you do any homework, let alone study. You’re going to start applying to colleges soon, how do you think they’ll react when they see these grades? Do you think that they’ll accept you?” Suho asked in a condescending tone. 

“Why did you have to bring that up now! Why did you have to start any of this! Don’t you think it’s too much, bringing this up and disturbing a morning at a house that isn’t even ours?” He burst, taking a few steps toward his brother with hands firmly placed on his hips. They both had distasteful glares, staring into the others eyes. 

“If I never brought it up you wouldn’t do anything about it, and you still don’t.” Suho said as calmly as he could have. “I try not to address it as much as I can, but it’s getting a little ridiculous at this point.”

“I’m asking why you thought this was a good time to talk about this.” He argued back, tilting his head a little to motion over towards Chanyeol who looked like he was witnessing a murder. He was standing in the entrance to the kitchen with a blank expression. At least, he wasn’t butting in.

“You’re embarrassing yourself in front of him. This is your doing, not mine.” Suho hissed through his teeth. 

“Fuck you.” He responded, voice completely void of emotion. “You’re deflecting this onto me, when you know perfectly well that starting this conversation in the first place would cause more harm than good.”

“There you go again! Blaming people for your own actions.” He spat back. “Maybe next time, we shouldn’t have this conversation in the kitchen.”

His eyes instinctively widened with shock. His hands threatened to grab something and throw it, but they remained stiff in his pockets. He needed the words to register into his mind before he acted on them. His first assumption was something completely normal, guessing Suho meant that the kitchen was supposed to be a place of happiness and not an appropriate setting for arguments. Especially someone else's kitchen. But the severity of the statement began to set in, and he wondered if Suho had an alternative intention. It would make no sense otherwise. A random sentence like that in the middle of a conversation? Not likely. 

He knew he mentioned it on purpose. He could feel the tension in the air already and the bitter moment of silence just added to it. The kitchen is where you cook and prepare food, which also happens to be where the knives are located. 

He glared in front of him, eyes directly focused on the expression on Suho’s face. It matched his own almost exactly, no hint of remorse at all. It wasn’t until he had wrapped his fists around his brother's suit did he see a change of emotion. He tugged at the excess material hanging off, pulling his body towards him. His face had softened, now looking more worried and confused. 

“Baekhyun!” Suho exclaimed, clearly surprised by Baekhyun’s hostile reaction. His hands flew up and held helplessly onto his wrists, tugging ever so slightly while pleading with him, “I was talking about your school work!”

“I know you weren’t!” He spat through his teeth. “What does my school work have to do with the room we talk in?” He hissed, attempting to shake Suho’s grip off of him. He wasn’t successful after the first few attempts, which led him to take a moment to breathe before he tried again. In that time, he glanced to his left where Chanyeol was staring directly at him with a disapproving look. He was taking a sip out of a cup while watching the scene unfold right in front of him. 

The sight of him made Baekhyun scowl internally. The way he looked like he had no interest at all in what was happening just made him feel emotions that he couldn’t explain, but he hated it. He hated it all, everything that was happening. His mind filled to the brim with every emotion in the book. 

The way he stood there so calmly, almost like he was expecting this to happen. Like he predicted it and was celebrating his correct guess. He didn't want to give Chanyeol the sweet satisfaction of being right, but his body acted before his mind. He pulled Suho’s hands off of him before shoving him backwards, a little harder than he had intended to do. He fell back immediately and crashed into the counter behind them with a small thud. 

Baekhyun wasted no time running to get on top of him. He wanted to sit on top of him, to assert dominance. He wanted to get into his face, to intimidate him, and to show him all that he was capable of. He knew deep in his mind that he was just proving elongated Suho’s point. That he’s undoubtedly aggressive and unable to control himself in situations. But none of that was on his mind this very second, all he wanted to do was _attack_ something in his local proximity. 

Suho’s face was now filled with unreadable expressions. He looked like he had a lot on his mind. Thoughts and regrets flowing, Baekhyun assumed. He had scooted back a few inches on the floor after he landed, looking as if he’d just seen a ghost. He didn’t try to stand up, probably still in shock and in the process of grasping the situation. 

Before he got the chance to even touch him, strong arms wrapped around his forearm in a backwards hug, though it didn’t seem very friendly, and forced him to stay stationary. He struggled to move his arms but couldn’t go past the forearm. His feet were also free, so he took that chance to kick back a few times. Hopefully, some of the attempts gave the constrainer a run for his money. 

That just made the grip even tighter and he didn’t want to risk kicking again out of fear of his feet being swept out from under him. Which, would leave him in a predicament if his goal was to keep attacking. “Let go of me!” Baekhyun eventually shouted, tired of the lack of movement he had. 

“You might want to quit struggling.” Chanyeol teased, which just made Baekhyun try harder. His head was forward, close to resting on his shoulders. His breath was audible in Baekhyun’s ears. “That sentence sounded familiar, didn’t it?” 

“You might want to quit struggling.” Chanyeol teased, which just made Baekhyun try harder. His head was forward, close to resting on his shoulders. His breath was audible in Baekhyun’s ears. “That sentence sounded familiar, didn’t it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- <3


	11. eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a little earlier but also a little shorter because im right in the middle of exams and really need to focus on that and all of the other school work going on :(( but i will be sure to stay on schedule, ill make time for this story. 
> 
> thank you to all of the readers, i appreciate you all! 
> 
> also, ive been planning a sequel (probably should finish the actual story first but, we'll see) so i hope to have that out eventually sometime after i finish this haha.

“I’m a lot stronger than you are, you know that, right?” He teased, speaking directly into Baekhyun’s ear. Hot breath touched the left side of his face, leaving a tingling sensation. “I know you’re not used to that, but I am.” Soft chuckles escaped his lips as if he found the situation amusing. “I even have a broken hand and I’m able to hold you back.” 

Baekhyun was still struggling under his grip, wishing he had just a little more strength so he could break out and attack him right after, once again. His feet were getting tired of the continuous motion and the attempts to break free,

“A hand that I broke!” He argued back through gritted teeth. 

“Well, that’s because it was a surprise attack. Of course, you’re going to win a battle if your first move is a crippling one. We could fight each other for real though if you want. Let’s see who wins.” 

The words took a few seconds to stick into his brain, but when they did, he immediately stopped moving. The anger he had earlier now turned into seething animosity. A state where he was so resentful that he felt calm. He’d never felt more peace in his life, his body feeling like it was being lifted up to the sky, no longer feeling weights. 

Chanyeol’s grip still remained strong as ever on his arms, but he didn’t try to fight it off anymore. He just needed some water to be poured on him to get rid of the steam that was radiating off of him. Words started forming in his head, insults ready at the tip of his tongue to spit out without any actual physical activity. He didn’t trust himself with his body in this state, so the less motion, the better. 

But before he had the chance to say anything, Suho quickly started running his mouth, “Baekhyun! What the hell?” He yelled in a smaller voice than earlier, probably still wary that Baekhyun would attack again. His hand reached out to grab hold of one of the kitchen cabinets and he pulled himself back onto his feet, taking small steps away from the other two in the room. “And Chanyeol, why are you egging him on?” He asked in a much calmer but certainly more disappointed tone. He crossed his arms over his chest. 

“What? Me? I’m just trying to help!” Chanyeol answered, perplexed. His grasp softened more and more until he had eventually let go completely. But Baekhyun stayed still, his body still letting off steam. 

“I know, and thank you for that, but this is not the correct way to deal with it,” Suho replied. “You can’t just… do that. Especially with him.” 

Baekhyun had never witnessed something so bad have such a positive result. Chanyeol didn’t end up responding after that. He had given them both a few annoyed glances before letting out a breath of annoyance and storming back into his room, slamming the door shut in the process. He felt proud, to say the least. Seeing Chanyeol actually upset gave him so much pleasure. It wasn’t the other way around anymore. 

His body was losing the sense of frustration and his mind was calm as well. A small smile tugged at his lips and he felt warmth and joy peak in his chest, a feeling that he hadn’t felt in so long. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad conversation after all. Seeing Chanyeol show emotions was, to say the least, enjoyable for him. He’d have never thought that two sentences would be enough for him to retreat. 

It made him more aware that he was a real person who faced the same struggles as everyone else in this world. Chanyeol was indeed, human. And he liked that. He was more than a snotty bitch who was only out to make everyone’s life miserable. 

Suho kept his eyes on Baekhyun with a blank expression. He gazed back and their eyes met for a second. No words were exchanged. Suho gave a small shrug and headed over to the kitchen table to pick up a cup, not speaking any words to him. They remained in silence for a while, but it wasn’t awkward or filled with tension. They gave no speech to the other but somehow understood exactly what the other was thinking. 

These next few days were going to be interesting. 

-

The events earlier that day stuck with Baekhyun for a while, but the result wasn’t how he would have liked it to be. Suho had insisted that they ‘get over themselves’ and just stick to the plan they had. Which, Chanyeol had ultimately agreed with. 

He was so proud of his brother for setting that man into his place. It was a joyous sight to see, something Baekhyun would have willingly waited his entire life for. But that had all been thrown away not even five minutes after it happened when Chanyeol walked out of his room completely dressed and ready for the day with a wide smile and playful glisten in his eyes. He had strolled over right in front of them and took a small bow, saying. “I apologize for my actions. I didn’t mean to ruin the mood.” Which made Baekhyun’s ears stand up as they listened for a hint of _anything_ in his voice. Just a hint of disappointment would be enough for him, but there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. He still seemed unaffected, even holding no harsh feelings for Suho.

Chanyeol had even found an old backpack for Baekhyun to use for school, handing it to him with an elated grin. He had hesitantly accepted it, not willing to go to school again without a backpack. At least he had something. 

Now, they were all sitting in the car on the way to school, with Chanyeol sitting shotgun. Many times questioned why he even bothered showing up after the little incident in the kitchen earlier, but he kept his mouth shut and stared out the window from the backseat.

Suho and Chanyeol were having a normal conversation in the front seat, conversing normally and laughing along at each other’s jokes. Almost like nothing ever happened. He just didn’t understand it. They were talking about work, adult things that he’s been told he ‘wouldn’t understand.’ He has tried to argue otherwise, but he realizes how stupid he looks when there’s a backpack on the floor in front of him. And they’re now on their way to school to drop him off. He hated this, looking small, more than anything else in the world.

He began to listen to some of the words that were being exchanged in the front seat. Suho was blabbing away, as usual, but he was talking about _him_. “Baekhyun tends to break things when he’s upset. Or sad, embarrassed, confused, annoyed-”

“We get it!” Baekhyun fired back, cutting him off while kicking the seat in front of him that held his brother. He questioned why Suho was suddenly telling his entire life story to asshole sitting next to him. They talked normally, almost pretending he wasn’t there at all and listening to every word that was spoken about him. 

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” Chanyeol butted in, “we all have our quirks.” 

“I wouldn’t exactly consider it a quirk.” Suho reasoned.

“Shut up,” Baekhyun mumbled, moving in his seat to close off any further conversation. He didn’t want to hear anything either of them had to say at the moment. For the first time in probably his whole life, he was relieved to be going to school. 

As soon as they pulled up, Baekhyun didn’t even wait for the vehicle to completely stop moving before he leapt out of it, slamming the door shut behind him. Suho waved a small goodbye but he ignored it completely, eager to get into the school. Once opened the door to school, he felt like a massive weight was lifted off of his shoulders. The familiar sense of school overcame him. It felt like months since he’d been here last, even though it was only yesterday. At least for now, he was free from being nagged. 

“Hi Baekhyun,” Sehun said when he walked into the gym locker room. He had his torso wrapped in a towel while rubbing his hair with another one. “Are you feeling better?” He asked.

“Physically? Sure, but mentally? I don’t think I’ll ever know.” He sighed, sitting down on the bench. 

“Your brother being annoying again?” He half asked, half already knowing that was the cause of it. He took a seat next to him. 

“When is he not, honestly. But we're staying at my brother’s coworker’s house for a while because ours caught on fire-”

“What? Your house what?” Sehun cut off, eyes growing wide. 

“The kitchen caught on fire.”

“Your kitchen caught on fire? What the hell? Why didn’t you tell me?” He emphasized, a glare focusing on him with eyebrows raised. 

Baekhyun shrugged. “It just never came up. But anyways, he was the one who set it on fire in the first place.”

“This story doesn’t make any sense. Bad review, 2/10. Zero stars.”

“I’m serious!” He argued and continued to tell Sehun a lengthy and _descriptive_ summary of his life over the past few days. He started at the very beginning, where he just went to a simple party for his brothers’ work and ended at the ‘fight’ that occurred this morning, which was probably already gone out of Chanyeol’s memory. 

“I guess that makes sense now. I was wondering why you had literally _nothing_ yesterday. So this is the same guy that picked you up yesterday?” Sehun asked. 

“Yeah.”

“What a dick. What’s his issue?”

“No idea, but I hate it, and I hate him. He keeps meddling in my life when nobody asked him too.” 

“He sounds annoying. Your life seems so much more eventful than mine is. All that’s gone on in mine is my mom buying a new coffee maker.” He said, pausing to reach into his bag to pull out a slightly smaller mesh bag, full of football equipment. “I also brought extra stuff for you to use since you said you’d need it. It might be a little… smelly but it’ll make do.” He handed the bag over to Baekhyun right as the bell for school to begin rang, standing up and giving him a small pat on the back. “Come on, let’s head to class.”

“Thanks.” He smiled, stepping up. His mood lifted due to the generosity and he hoped today would be an enjoyable day, unlike the morning he had. Not much else could put a damper on his day at this point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- <3


	12. twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda wild that its exam season yet i found the time to update 3 days earlier,, think of this as a "special" chapter i guess lol. i dont know why i could edit more than usual in a shorter amount of time but i guess here we are. 
> 
> ill probably still update on wednesday too tbh.

The rest of the day went through normally. As normal as it could get for him, at least. He had almost entirely forgotten about what happened this morning and had all of his attention on his excitement for football practice tonight. He was beyond excited to get in a full practice without interruption. His mind could hardly pay attention to what was happening throughout the entire day in school, his body itching to run around play the sport he loves. During the duration of school, he told himself he would play the best he ever has to redeem himself, as his performance this past week wasn’t what he wanted it to be. It was the near the beginning of the season too, he had to prove himself worthy of being team captain. 

And he played exactly how he wanted to. Throwing the ball like normal, going over drills with the team and encouraging them to do the very best they could do. He felt so _happy_ , a smile planted on his face even though he was sweaty and tired. He gave it his very all, playing better than he could have imagined he would. He ran extra hard during practice, letting out all of the extra energy he had built up over the past few days. Releasing all of his built up emotions into the game. 

He also observed everyone else on the field, watching to make sure they were doing well too, which they were. If they kept this energy up they’d easily win the game on Saturday, he thought. There’s no way they couldn’t, with such good players and sportsmanship. Sehun kept everyone in line well while he was gone, he was thankful for that. 

After practice was over, he felt so much better. It passed by too quickly for his liking, the lengthy hour and a half seemed like it was merely 10 minutes long. Maybe it was his excitement, good things never seem to last. He hadn’t even thought about Chanyeol once the entire practice, he just focused on himself and how he could do better. His mind didn’t dare to drift off and think about it, especially while he was on the field playing a sport he so dearly loves. 

The team all joined together in the locker room after practice to change out and discuss plans for any upcoming events, specifically their game. He gave as many encouraging words as he could while everyone was changing out in hopes of making them as excited and ready as he was to play. Practices were fun and all, but real football was nothing without the games. It was a completely different environment, as if every single moment in life was just a buildup to those few hours on the field. Despite having them every week during game season, he never got tired of the constant playing. Especially now that this is his last year on the team due to him graduating next year, he had to make it meaningful and memorable. 

Just as he was almost done talking, there was a small knock on the door and the door opened. Everyone’s attention immediately shifted from him to the small noise. Nobody moved an inch while the door was being fumbled with by whoever was out there, players frantically rushing to get dressed to cover their naked bodies. When it was finally opened, Baekhyun’s eyes opened in shock.

“Hello.” An all too familiar voice announced to the room of players, standing almost in the exact same position he was in yesterday. He was dressed like he was attending a wedding, black suit and overjoyed expression plastered on his face. The only thing that separated today and yesterday was the fact that _the rest of the team was there_. They were all looking in his direction with confused and shocked expressions, wondering why a nicely dressed young adult just walked right on in.

“Who the hell are you?” Jongdae was the first out of them to speak up, having the courage to spit out words before Baekhyun did. He was too focused on trying to remain calm, silently hoping nothing would happen in front of everyone that he would end up regretting. That included attacking him right here. He scanned Chanyeol’s face, wondering if there was a legit reason he was here or if he just showed up for the fun of it. It didn’t look like there was anything wrong or incredibly urgent that would require him to come _inside_ to pick him up. Why was he even here in the first place? Certainly, Suho wouldn’t have let this happen again, that wouldn’t make any sense. 

Baekhyun’s eyes moved from Chanyeol after a few seconds of observation. He felt Sehun’s gaze drifting over towards him, inevitably remembering the tall man. Within seconds, the rest of the team caught on and now had their attention turned to Baekhyun as well. “What are you doing here?” He questioned, nicer then he intended to but he didn’t want to seem rude to a guest in front of everyone else. 

“I’m here to pick you up once you’re done, Baekhyun.” He announced, much louder than needed. “You can come to my car once you’re done, I’m parked out front.” Baekhyun barely had the chance to even register what he said, let alone respond before Chanyeol walked out the door. He left as fast as he came in, not even spending a full minute inside. The door shut with a loud bang that made him flinch. What just happened? He let out a snort as he grabbed his backpack from his locker and slung it over his back. 

“Who was that?” A teammate asked him. He didn’t even hear who it was, he was too focused on wrapping things up as fast as he could so he could get out there and talk to Chanyeol. He wanted to question him, ask why he showed up _again_ and why it had to be when everyone was watching. 

“Just someone.” He responded while grabbing the football equipment and storming out of the locker room, kicking the door open and letting it slam behind him. He started to speed walk after he was no longer in sight of his peers, eager to catch up. Once he reached outside, almost every car looked the exact same. He had no idea what Chanyeol’s car looked like and where it would be in the parking lot. The few moments he spent waiting, he went through what he was going to say in his head. It needed to leave a good impact, so this kind of thing doesn’t happen again. Besides, he had _embarrassed_ him by singling him out in front of people who were supposed to look up to him. How can he be a team captain if random men are walking in at random times to order him around? 

Around two minutes later, the car had pulled into the pick-up area and Baekhyun scoffed as he walked back up there. Why couldn’t he have just done that in the first place? He caught sight of the car he was sitting in just yesterday for the same exact reason. That same car that was too new and beautiful for someone like Chanyeol to be driving it. It had to have been expensive. Baekhyun had zero knowledge in cars, so he couldn’t exactly pinpoint what kind it was. But he did know that it looked amazing. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He yelled while opening the door after stomping over towards the car. He pulled it as hard as he could, Chanyeol sitting in the front seat with wide eyes. He pulled his backpack off of his back, tossing it in the car and aiming directly for the driver seat. It hit Chanyeol right in the face, as he intended. But instead of responding, like he was expecting, he simply picked the bag up and moved it over towards the floor in front of him. “Get in.” He said in a stern tone, pressing some buttons to start up the car. 

Baekhyun kicked the car a few times before hesitantly opening the door into the backseat. He didn’t want to get in but knew he had no other way of getting home. He slammed the door behind him before buckling up. After that, the car was silent for a while. He wondered if Chanyeol was going to initiate conversation anytime soon and actually explain what he was doing here and what his purpose was for coming here. There had to be a reason, it just wasn’t logical otherwise.

He caught a few glimpses of Chanyeol’s face from the rear-view mirror, analyzing his expressions. He didn’t look upset or angry, just looked completely focused on the road with his grip on the wheel firm. Baekhyun rolled his eyes, setting his gaze on the scenery out the window. 

“This seems like a repetitive pattern,” Chanyeol spoke up after a while, bringing Baekhyun’s attention to him. “I do simple things, you overreact and get mad, maybe attack someone in the process, then the loop repeats. At least, from what I’ve seen.” 

“Fuck off,” Baekhyun replied with minimal effort, too distracted by the distant hills out the window to listen to what he had to say. It wasn’t like he cared for any of it anyway, so he wasn’t missing out on much. 

“Is this how you live your life? In a constant state of anger and frustration?” He replied in a calm tone. He picked his head off the windowsill and caught Chanyeol’s gaze in the rear-view mirror. He looked calm, almost concerned, but Baekhyun didn’t believe that was genuine. How could it be? Just this morning he seemed like a completely different person, almost teasing him like his personality existed just to give him humour. Baekhyun clenched his fists, holding back a crude response in order to not prove Chanyeol correct. 

“Shut up.” He managed to announce after many moments of debating. 

“Shouldn’t you get your personality in check?” Chanyeol asked.

“How about you do that!” Baekhyun mocked with an insulting tone. “You’re not any better than me!” 

“Yeah, well, at least I acknowledge it.” 

“I never said I didn’t acknowledge it.” He muttered under his breath.

The car ride was silent once more. It seemed like neither of them knew what to say next. Baekhyun wasn’t even sure what they would talk about. It seemed neither of them had anything kind to say to each other, so maybe the ride was better silent. He rested his head on the window once more. 

“I actually came here to apologize to you,” Chanyeol said, starting the conversation again. “I realized that it’s not exactly mature of me to talk to a kid in a degrading way, so I’ll work on fixing that.” He announced. Baekhyun raised his eyebrows in confusion. He came to… apologize?

“Calling me a kid is just defeating the purpose of your statement.” He responded softly, less upset now that he was aware of Chanyeol’s true intention of coming here. It wasn’t at all what he expected and he didn’t know how to react to that. 

“It does not, do you even know what that means? See, this is why you need school.” He teased in a playful tone. 

“Hey, you don’t know anything about me!” Baekhyun defended lightly, not as offended due to the humoristic tone he had. 

“I know enough about you to know that you’re better the F’s. You can do better if you just put your mind to it some.” 

“Why are we back on this topic?” Baekhyun questioned. 

“Because that was my original point for coming here. I want to help you do better, I know you can. I’ll quiz you, study with you, test you-”

“Why the fuck would I want to do that with you?” Baekhyun asked, cutting him off. Why would he offer such a thing? 

“I thought you might say that, so I wanted to offer a deal. You study with me for one week, if things don’t change, then I’ll stop, but if things go well, then we keep going.” 

“How does that make any sense?” Baekhyun questioned. “Couldn’t I just fail anyway?”

“I realize that, but that’s your decision. You’ll only be hurting yourself in that process. Does your hate for me outweigh your desire to do better? It’s up to you to decide that.”

Baekhyun didn’t respond, just scoffed. He didn’t believe this was happening, there had to be a catch to it. He doubted Chanyeol would initiate in anything that didn’t directly benefit him. 

“So, what do you say, Baekhyun? Will you accept my offer?” Chanyeol asked. 

Baekhyun’s natural instinct would be to curse him out for offering something so ridiculous, but he felt himself wanting to give in. He wanted to prove to himself, and Chanyeol, that he isn’t the dumb person everyone makes him out to be.

“Okay, fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- <3


	13. thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here i am, back again with another chapter yay. 
> 
> squeezed ha out over the past few days. 
> 
> btw i think ill update 2 times a week from now on. idk yet though, we'll see, but summer break is coming up and ill have a lot more time to write. so, if i do decide that, itll probably be saturday and ill keep wednesday, and itll help finish the story faster cause i have a lot to finish and write and i feel like deadlines help me write better and faster. 
> 
> anyways, enjoy!

The next couple of days flew by fairly quickly. There wasn’t much variation on what he’d do with his time at this point. The pattern was pretty set in stone by the third day. He’d wake up, get driven to school by Suho and Chanyeol, go to school then attend football practice right after, get picked up by Chanyeol then spend the majority of the night doing his homework. It was difficult for him, especially the first day where it took him _so long_ to complete a simple study guide while Chanyeol stared at him with confused eyes. But his desire to prove everyone wrong was motivation to keep going. He wanted to show that he was capable of studying and doing well like every other high school student. 

He even turned down hanging out with the team to _study_ , which earned him confused looks all around and a “Since when do you study?” from Sehun. He had shrugged, knowing he’d have more time to hang with them down the line. For now, this was just more important to him. He didn’t expect to be so determined, even surprising himself by how eager he was to continue something as boring as studying. 

So, once he got home on the third day, he sat down at the kitchen table and waited while Chanyeol was cooking dinner. They needed to review Spanish words for an upcoming ‘very important’ quiz that was worth a lot of his grade. It was certainly not something he can half ass and have the results come back excellent.

“What is La Casa?” Chanyeol asked.

“House,” Baekhyun muttered, almost embarrassed at how easy the few vocab words were. He was only in the first level, having repeated it now for the third time. 

“El Comedor?”

“Dining room.”

“La Cucina?”

“I don’t know.”

Chanyeol let out a slight sigh. “Where are we right now?”

“The kitchen?”

“There you go.”

“This is annoying, aren’t we done for today? It’s been like two hours.” Baekhyun groaned, not even paying much attention to Chanyeol at this point. “I can just fail the test anyway, then you’d have to leave me alone about this.” He added, knowing he didn’t really mean that. 

Chanyeol put a hand on his hip and paused stirring the soup for a second to look back at him sitting at the kitchen table. “Then how about we switch it around?” He began, “If you get a good grade, I’ll leave you alone. If you don’t, then I’ll continue to help you until you do.”

“You can’t do that!” Baekhyun protested, standing up in his seat. He caught Chanyeol’s gaze as a smirk was plastered on his face. He was standing with one hand on his apron that spelt out ‘This shit is going to be delicious.’

“I can, and I did.” He responded. “So you better get studying, it’s not going to change. And attacking me in any form will just extend it to two weeks!” He added, probably noticing Baekhyun’s quick change of emotions. “My house, my rules.”

“Then I’ll go home!” He protested, not knowing why he was being so defensive about this. He wasn’t planning on failing anyway, what was wrong with their first deal? He didn’t want his intelligent career to be short-lived with his tutor ditching him the second he showed any potential. 

“You can’t,” Chanyeol stated. 

“And who’s fault is that?” He spat back, gradually getting frustrated by the sudden change. 

Chanyeol didn’t respond, just scoffed and went back to stiffing the soup, completely discarding the conversation. “I’m doing this for you, by the way.” He said softly, almost like he was talking to himself. 

Baekhyun continued to stare at the paper of notes, pretending to study. He wondered if he had upset Chanyeol with his last comment, as he didn’t push the conversation anymore and gave all of his attention to that damn soup. With that thought, more came piling into his brain. He felt like he was continuously fighting emotions that never stopped. He questioned why he was trying so hard to follow these rules, why he had the sudden change of heart to try in school. It seemed so sudden, but it was the only thing he could think about. 

But why did it have to be so difficult? He didn’t understand, rubbing his eyes to keep them focused. Studying was certainly something he would have to get used to. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Suho walk into the kitchen. His heart jumped a little, still finding it uncomfortable to be in contact with his brother after the little incident. He hadn’t tried to initiate anything, and that just made it worse. No conversation, no forced interacting, nothing. It was either silence or conversation when Chanyeol was around to take part in it. Every time he saw him, he would awkwardly scurry away and hope he hadn’t made it obvious that he was doing this. It would be obvious if he just walked out now, so he had no choice but to stay. He reverted his gaze to the floor, making eye contact with an ant. 

“Are you two studying?” Suho asked, directing the question towards Chanyeol as he took a seat at the table across from Baekhyun. 

“Yeah,” Chanyeol began. “He’s doing good.”

“That’s good. I hope I can see an increase of grades from him.” Suho replied, talking about him as if he wasn’t sitting. Right. There. 

“This is so annoying.” He mumbled, hoping both of them could hear his complaining. “It’s like I have two dads.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Chanyeol asked after a moment of silence. 

“What?” Baekhyun shot up, not expecting that answer at all. 

“What’s wrong with having two dads?” He asked once more. He didn’t mean it like _that_. He was just frustrated, Chanyeol made it sound like he was homophobic or something. 

Baekhyun heard the stove turn off, then slight footsteps in his direction. A bandaged hand was placed on his shoulder. He froze up at the action, unable to decipher the purpose of it. He tilted his head sideways slightly to catch the sight of Chanyeol’s apron. His mind tried to piece together a good response but was left with nothing. “Well… nothing.” He said after a while, voice trailing off. He moved his head back more to make eye contact with Chanyeol, regretting it as soon as he started. His beady eyes were staring him down like the Medusa, making his body turn to stone.

“Good.”

-

Within the next two days, Baekhyun had taken three tests. They caused him headaches and confusion, somehow even more than previous attempts. There’s nothing more frustrating than _knowing_ something but not being able to remember it at that very moment. Nevertheless, he tried his best and gave it his all. He spent the time digging out information from parts of his brain he didn’t even know he had. 

But, he thought that he did _amazing_ on them. Once he took his time, read through carefully and choose the best possible answer, it wasn’t actually as difficult as he thought. It was so much easier to do as time went on and he wasn’t relying on being told the answers anymore. The amount of hard work and effort he put into studying with Chanyeol really paid off. He actually knew the information well, for once, and felt like he could recite the entire timeline of World War 2 if he was asked. 

Spanish, B. English, B+, and for History, he achieved an A. 

The minute he saw the grades, he felt like his spirits were lifted. He felt invincible, like he could do anything. It was the same rush he felt whenever he made a touchdown in football, just less physical. He paid attention well in class well that day, eagerly thinking about how he would go home and tell Suho.

He couldn’t keep a smile off his face as History continued. An A, something he could only dream of getting was now under his possession. His worst subject for the past few years, somehow only failing it twice though, and now he earned one of the highest grades. If he keeps this up, who knows what’ll happen?

The class flew by quickly, the information somewhat soaking into his brain. But, just before Baekhyun was about to stand up to leave, the teacher called him to her desk. He walked over hesitantly, wondering what she wanted to talk about. Perhaps she wanted to congratulate him for his new score? Maybe she was elated, overjoyed that he was finally putting some effort into learning the information. 

However, her face seemed disappointed. Her eyebrows were knitted together with a frown covering her face. Small frown lines appeared on her forehead as she began to speak, “Baekhyun, I noticed something different with your grade on this unit.” She said, her gaze was looking at her computer, completely ignoring his. “Did you cheat?”

He felt his heard drop onto the floor. It took him a few seconds to understand the sentence, realizing she _wasn’t_ excited for him, but was _accusing_ him? His excited mood deflated, the three words making him shocked, and embarrassed. It was like a knife, killing his mood in a matter of seconds. 

“No, I didn’t cheat!” He responded defensively. His eyes were filled with confusion, eyebrows raised with confusion, begging for an explanation for this. “What makes you think I cheated? Why would I cheat?” He argued.

“I just don’t see how this is possible. You’ve never done well at all this entire year and suddenly you get an A? It’s not realistic, and I’m not dumb enough to let you get away with this.” She accused, pushing her glasses up on her face with a disappointed expression. “You can have your parent or guardian come by after school to talk to me and the principal, we will discuss your punishment.” She stated, not even moving her eyes to look up to him. 

“What? That’s not fair! You can’t do that, you don’t have any proof!” He argued, realizing he was probably just digging himself farther into this hole with his word choice. He wasn’t wrong, she _did_ have no obvious proof, but that wasn’t the point he was trying to get at. Was there any way to prove to her that this was all his work? There had to be something he could do; he’d even be willing to sit here and recite everything he knows. 

“Your words are proof enough, Byun.” She declared, shutting her laptop and standing up from her desk. “I’ll look forward to meeting your guardian tonight.” Without even a second of eye contact, she had stood up and began to push in her chair. 

“But-” He stuttered, attempting to get some words out to defend himself; to clear up this whole situation. But he was too late, he already heard her heels tap on the floor as she walked outside of the classroom. He slammed his hand on the desk, slightly shaking the materials on the desk. This whole certainly wasn’t helping his mood. It wasn’t helping his motivation to study either. If he was just going to be accused of cheating, then what was the point?

It was the end of the day and he was just thankful there wasn’t any football practice today. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to control himself and would actually injure somebody, which is a whole different issue. He sat on the curb, wondering what he was going to tell Suho. They’d have to go back later to clear it up, or else there would probably be bigger issues to deal with. At least someone would be here soon to pick him up. He wasn’t sure if it was Suho or Chanyeol but considering the situation, he hoped it was Chanyeol.


	14. fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know i said i would update twice a week, but i think i’ll have to put that off for a little longer cause i’m still really busy and it’s not quite summer time yet for me, but i will try my best! thank you for reading and all of your kind words

Sure enough, Chanyeol’s car pulled up minutes later in the same beautiful car. He wished he had good news to deliver instead of cheating. He wanted to convince him that he was completely innocent and falsely accused, hoping he would believe him. He opened the door with force and stepped in, slamming the door shut behind him. 

“Woah, don’t break my car,” Chanyeol replied. “It was expensive.”

“Fuck off.” He replied, adjusting his position in the seat. 

“What’s wrong? Did you get your grades back?” Chanyeol asked, but Baekhyun didn’t respond. His eyes were focused on the floor, avoiding eye contact. “So I’m guessing no then? Anything else on your mind?” Chanyeol continued. 

“Shut up,” Baekhyun growled. 

“No? Okay. How about I just drive then, sound good?” He replied, taking Baekhyun’s attitude like a grain of salt. Which he was okay with. It meant he wouldn’t bother him anymore on the way home. 

They sat in more silence, a normal occurrence for their drives home it seemed. He was only thinking about how. How he would go about this. It’d be even more irresponsible to not show up, which would just get him into even more trouble. So, he had to find a way to tell Suho about it and to make him believe it. Which was not exactly an easy task. He considered so many options, eventually giving up for the rest of the ride home. It was better to just ignore the situation for now, there wasn’t anything he could do right now to help himself. 

“I picked him up, but someone’s Mister Grumpy-pants today,” Chanyeol announced to the house as soon as they walked in, even though it was only Suho who was sitting at the dining room table. He had one of Chanyeol’s many books in his hands. 

“And I can imagine why.” He chuckled, standing up from his chair, slamming the book shut. He looked over at Baekhyun with disappointed eyes and a frown set on his face. “I just got a call from the school, and I think he might know what it’s about.”

Chanyeol quickly turned back to face Baekhyun, alarmed. “What is it?” He asked. 

“The teacher thinks Baekhyun cheated,” Suho answered. 

Chanyeol’s eyes widened. “What? Why the hell would she think that?” He demanded, clearly agitated by this information. He crossed his arms before continuing. “She _thinks_ he did? That’s absurd. What proof does she have?” He asked. 

“Well, she didn’t directing say anything, but mentioned that it seems suspicious,” Suho replied. “And I have to say that I agree with her. Suddenly getting an A in a subject that he always did terrible in? Especially right after you made that deal with him. He was most likely trying to get out of having to study with you. Even if he did, it’s still wrong.”

Chanyeol sighed and put his head in his arms. He looked visibly disappointed, with a frown set on his face. “Suho, can I talk to you in the other room?” He asked. Baekhyun figured he wanted to talk to Suho alone, without him being able to hear what they were saying. 

Suho bit his lip slightly but nodded in agreement before following him into Chanyeol’s room. As soon as the door shut, Baekhyun rushed over to press his ear against it. They weren’t speaking softly, which made it easy for him to listen to every word that was said. 

“No, no. I know he didn’t. Why would he? He knew that information well, maybe even better than me. Why are you doubting him? Do you really think that lowly of him?” He recognized Chanyeol’s voice speaking. It wasn’t the words he was expecting to come out of his mouth. He was defending him against his own brother. 

“Well, he’s not exactly the best kid, Chanyeol. I’m not surprised he would do something like this. He’s my brother, I know him better than everyone else.” Suho replied.

“Really? You think you know him enough so you’re going to take some old woman’s word over your own brothers? If he tells you he didn’t cheat, then he didn’t cheat.” Chanyeol affirmed, tone slightly raising and becoming more stern.

“You said he was in a bad mood right? He’s always in a bad mood when he’s been exposed for something!” Suho argued back. 

“He’s not mad because he was caught, he’s mad because he’s being falsely accused.” Chanyeol defended. 

There was no response after that was audible enough for him to hear. He assumed they were just standing without speaking, expressing their disagreement through the silence. Baekhyun even wondered if his hearing stopped working because of how dead silent it had suddenly become. 

“I’m not going to hide the fact that I’m disappointed in you Suho,” Chanyeol added after the moments of peace had ended. 

After that, he heard slight footsteps grow closer towards the door; he took that as his cue to remove his face from being pressed against the door and make his way back to the kitchen. He made it into one of the dining room chairs the second before the door was pushed open. 

“Come on Baekhyun, I’ll take you back to school and we can sort this out,” Chanyeol said, walking towards him. He reached to grab his coat from one of the chairs. Suho didn’t follow him out of the room. 

He nodded quickly, grabbing his own coat, feeling touched that Chanyeol was taking more initiative on this issue than his own brother. If he wasn’t here, he’d probably have been forced into confessing about something he didn't do, which would result in discouragement and frustration; all things he generally avoids. 

They walked down to the parking lot without any more words, Baekhyun following behind quietly while Chanyeol walked ahead quickly. He wasn’t sure if it was intentional or if it was just due to his large leg length. He unlocked the car once they reached it and Baekhyun grabbed the door handle to get inside. 

“Why do you always sit in the backseat?” Chanyeol asked after a few minutes into the car ride. It had been silent most of the way up until now. It seemed like a reoccurring thing, silence. He had trouble initiating a conversation. Unless someone else does, he won’t say anything. Besides, he assumed Chanyeol was deep in thought, so he didn’t want to interrupt anything important. Especially if he wasn’t in the best mood. 

“Just habit.” He replied. 

“Interesting.” 

That’s it? Baekhyun thought. Their only conversation for this whole journey was about a seating location. It seemed a little absurd in his opinion. If they were going to clear this up, which is what he assumed they would be doing, wouldn’t Chanyeol have any questions? He shook the thought off, deciding he must know what to do. He’s an adult with a working job, it shouldn’t be difficult for him to solve one minor issue. Plus, he was still dressed up from work. He looked really professional, Baekhyun admitted that. His hair was slicked back once again. The look really complimented his features and he looked really nice. That had to have some kind of impact on his middle aged teacher. 

They eventually pulled up to the school and Baekhyun unbuckled his seatbelt before they even finished moving. He was so eager to get inside and sort this out. He had confidence that Chanyeol was able to do it. They could prove Suho wrong. He was still wearing his school uniform and Chanyeol still had a suit on from work. He looked really professional, Baekhyun admitted that. His hair was slicked back once again. The look really complimented his features and made him visually appealing. 

“Lead the way,” Chanyeol said after closing the car door, letting Baekhyun walk in front of him. He stepped in front, walking up to the entrance. The school was basically deserted at this point, except for a few after school activities, so he didn’t think he’d have to worry about anyone seeing him with Chanyeol. Not that it would make much of a difference, but he was always cautious. 

He walked into the school, pausing every few doors to make sure Chanyeol was still following. His class was at the very end of the hall, causing a lengthy trek. He glanced in the door window one he arrived, checking to make sure the teacher was in there. Sure enough, she was sitting right at her desk. He exhaled, slowly reaching his hand out to press it onto the door. A wave of nervousness washed over him, but he felt better after Chanyeol gave him a small pat on the back. He gave a slight knock on the door and her head perked up from the laptop, motioning to him to open the door. He cracked it open, not having to do much else after Chanyeol took the lead and pushed the door all the way. 

He paused to bow before entering. “Hello, I’m Chanyeol. I’m a guardian of Baekhyun’s.” He introduced himself while reaching his hand out for a handshake. 

Baekhyun’s eyes shifted back and forth while trying to keep the visible shock on his face to a minimum. Chanyeol just called himself his guardian? He wondered if it was just for the sake of talking to his teacher, or if he really did consider himself one. It was something he hadn’t thought about yet. He _was_ currently staying in Chanyeol’s house, so he wasn’t completely incorrect.

“Oh sir, we weren’t scheduled for later.” She replied, looking up at him. 

“That’s okay. I’ll be quick.” He addressed, barely letting the teacher finish her sentence. He walked farther into the classroom, pausing to look back at him. “Baekhyun would you like to wait outside?” 

She looked slightly confused and surprised but didn’t look upset. She also remained in her seat, not walking away as she had done with Baekhyun earlier. “Well,” she began, taking off her glasses “I guess it’s no bother to talk now.”

Baekhyun glanced at Chanyeol who gave him a slight nod then proceeded to close the door. He shut it as quietly as he could, leaning against it for the remainder of the time. The door seemed too thick to listen in on as he had earlier, so he just sat there and waited.

There was a faint conversation happening in the room. It didn’t last as long as he thought it would, though. Barely three minutes later, the door was opened again and Chanyeol stepped out of the classroom with a smile on his face. “It’s all cleared up, you won’t have to worry about it anymore.” He beamed. 

Baekhyun’s eyes widened. “What? Really?” He asked.

“Yeah. I just explained everything we were doing to help you prepare. She seemed very understanding about it, much more than I was expecting. Maybe because I was in a suit?” He chuckled. 

“Wow, you’re really good at talking to people.” He admitted. 

“Thanks, it’s one of my specialities.” He replied. “I guess it’s helpful to be a working professional whose entire career is built off being a good communicator.” 

“Makes sense.”

They both walked outside; Baekhyun feeling a hundred times better than he had last time they left the school. He gained some new, firm respect for Chanyeol that he wouldn't forget. The way he stood up for him and didn’t stop until it was figured out just made him feel so good, so happy. He couldn’t help the excited feeling in his body, tingling through him. He could tell that from now on, they’d be getting along much better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- <3


	15. fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a day before usual yay. still didnt update on saturday, oops :( i was planning on it but then i got sick (and still am bleh) so i kinda just wanted to rest. but i got this one done, yeet. thank you for reading, as usual <3
> 
> i wanted to make it longer but i kinda had to end it where i did to keep the story making sense

“I kind of want to give your brother a piece of my mind, but I think I’ll let you do that,” Chanyeol said after they stepped into the car.

“Do you two normally not get along?” He asked. Within a short time span of only two days, he had seen them disagree with each other twice now, both involving him. 

“Well, it’s a little complicated I guess. Normally we do, but we seem to disagree on certain things.” He admitted. “But, even though we tend not to see side to side, we still generally get along. At least from a business perspective. We’re different, but just enough. He’s more of a person who wants everything to be done how he wants it to be done whereas I usually just go with the flow and do things my way. Whatever is going to happen will happen, right? So I don’t see the point in reminiscing on something that can’t be changed.”

“Yeah.” Baekhyun scoffed. “Suho is definitely the opposite of that.”

“Certainly. I feel that you're much more different from him, though. Just from my observations.”

“I just let things happen. I just don’t really… care about a lot of things.” He admitted, feeling comfortable enough to talk to him about this. 

“I understand that. It’s not an uncommon trait.” He paused, moving his eyes up to look at him through the rear-view mirror. “But if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here.”

Baekhyun gave a small nod; a smile threatening to peep out from his lips. It felt nice to have someone say that to him and really mean it. He usually didn’t receive that from Suho, whose main interest was more his performance in life, most notably his grades and personality. 

“Thanks.” He said. “It’s interesting to hear about my brother from a different perspective. I don’t know much outside of him telling me what to do.”

Before today, he barely even recognized the difference between the two. He just thought they were both the same in the sense of telling him what to do and how to do it. Baekhyun wondered how his brother behaved at work, knowing that Chanyeol had a completely different impression of him. 

“I guess that’s what older brothers do. I wouldn’t know, though. I’m an only child.” Chanyeol said.

“Really? I didn’t know that.” He admitted. 

“Yeah. I’ve been living on my own since I was your age.”

“Really?” Baekhyun asked in shock. He couldn’t imagine living on his own right now, it didn’t seem reasonable to him. Having that much responsibility that he wasn’t used to wouldn’t sit well with him, especially since he's not known to be very responsible. “But aren’t your parents still here? Why didn’t you live with them?”

“I wanted to live alone. Mooching off my parents just didn’t seem right anymore. And I’m glad I did, I really got places being alone. I think it’s good for kids to be given some independence at a young age, it helps prepare them for the future.” He said proudly. “It’s a really good learning experience!

“I guess so.” Baekhyun shrugged, slightly tuning out the rest of his words. He didn’t have any interest in this topic, knowing he would not do well all on his own. It would probably just lead him to live a secluded life; not having anyone tell him what to do with his time. 

“Then when I got older, I had social skills to interact with people. Especially people who aren’t the same age as me, which is very helpful in the workplace. You see, I wasn’t born with that skill.” He beamed, continuing his boasting for a while. It went on almost the entire car ride home. Baekhyun was only half listening to most of it, not being able to keep up with his fast pace. That was also something he noticed, Chanyeol loved to talk. About anything, about everything and to everyone, it didn’t matter who. He talked about how he grew up, how he struggled with getting settled on his own but eventually overcame it. How he had a hard time making friends, so he would give all of his energy into school work which made him the person he is today. Everything. Once one topic would end, he’d find another one to begin on. And Baekhyun had no choice but to just to him chatter away. He wondered if anyone listened to him like this before. Just to listen to all that he has to say.

“Anyways, yeah. That’s why I think cooking on the bottom rack in the oven is so much more efficient than the top rack. Don’t you agree?” He asked.

“Sure” Baekhyun responded, realizing that they arrived home already. He was thankful for the conversation at least. It meant for a less awkward ride with questionable silence. 

“But, Baekhyun.” He began after a pause. “I think we got off to a bad start. Why don’t we just forget about the past, and start fresh?” 

He looked up, feeling elated all of a sudden. “Yeah. I’d like that.” He responded, glad they left off on a good note. 

They walked up to the apartment; Baekhyun feeling relieved that everything was over and also curious to see Suho’s reaction. He’d never had someone to help him prove his brother wrong before, so it was going to be a delightful experience that he didn’t want to miss out on. 

“You’re home, how did it go?” Suho asked the second they stepped inside. He was sitting at the kitchen table, almost like he was waiting for them to walk in the door. 

“He’s cleared, don’t worry about it,” Chanyeol answered. “He did not cheat.”

“Really?” Suho asked in disbelief. His surprised tone made Baekhyun’s heart fall to the floor. 

“Yeah! So, good work Suho!” Chanyeol exclaimed with slight sarcasm. 

He exchanged quick glances with Suho, eyes narrowing and lips sticking out in a small pout. Which earned him raised eyebrows and crossed arms from his brother. He rolled his eyes and walked over towards the couch in the living room. 

“What, now I’m the bad guy?” Suho called out to him. 

-

Eventually, and inevitably, their time at Chanyeol’s house came to an end. It felt like they had been there forever, but it was actually only slightly over a week. It felt bittersweet to leave. He had hated where he slept, but the house was such a grand sight that it made up for it. Living in an apartment as nice as this one was probably an experience he’d only get to experience once in his lifetime. So now that it was time to leave, he reminisced on the few memories he made here. The kitchen, where Suho made him mad at least twice. The couch, which was the cause for his current stiff back. And of course, Chanyeol, who was the only one keeping him sane at the moment. 

Chanyeol cooked them one last meal before they left. He helped them pack up whatever stuff they had, which was not a lot, and drove them back to their house. He even forced himself to give Chanyeol a small hug as they were leaving the house, realizing that he would miss him, even if it was just a slight bit. He was someone who understood him a bit better than his brother did. Someone who looked out for him. Someone who had his back, as Chanyeol had mentioned in an earlier conversation. 

_“It’s not just this time. It’s happened a lot. Sometimes he just thinks so little of me. It’s condescending and degrading. I didn’t have anyone to believe in me. But you did, and that felt good for a change.” Baekhyun had muttered to Chanyeol the night before._

_“I’ve always got your back.” He said, reaching over to place his hand on Baekhyun’s lower back._

_“What was that for?”_

_“I’ve got your back!”_

_Baekhyun had to pinch himself to keep him from physically cringing._

-

They all walked into the house and it certainly was a sight to see. A lot of it was still intact almost perfectly, but the kitchen was almost completely destroyed. He could tell just by looking at it that it would be expensive to replace. They’re lucky it was taken care of quickly and it wasn’t able to spread much outside of the kitchen. Still, it looked like a complete mess. 

“Umm, maybe not,” Chanyeol said, standing in the doorframe. “This looks like a complete mess and I doubt it’s safe. How am I going to make filet o fish now? 

“You’re making food here?” Suho asked. 

“Yes?” Chanyeol questioned, making it sound like it was already common knowledge.

“Oh,” Suho replied quietly. 

They walked through the house, taking note of everything. The television still looked usable, so Baekhyun was content with that. If you cut out the middle portion of the house, it looked good as new!

“Are you sure you guys don’t just want to stay with me for a little longer? Just until the kitchen gets completely fixed? It’s really no hassle.” Chanyeol suggested, looking at the kitchen with distaste painted on his face. 

“That’s okay, we’ll be fine here. You’ve done enough for us this week.” Suho responded, denying his request. Baekhyun gave a slight eye roll. It wouldn’t hurt to stay at Chanyeol’s for even a little longer. Their kitchen definitely needed repairing and there was no reason for them to live in the house while that was being done. 

“Alright. If you say so. But personally, I view the kitchen as the most important part of the house. And when that isn’t working, I get a little anxious.” He added but didn’t say anything else after that as he continued to bring in the rest of their belongings. 

They ended up just ordering pizza for the night, which was a big downgrade from their usual meals, and ate it on the couch while watching Chopped. He felt a sense of bitterness, realizing none of this was what he had thought would happen when he got back to his house. He thought he would be happy, overjoyed that he was home now but none of that came. It settled into his brain in that Chanyeol would be leaving tonight to go back to his luxurious apartment, and Baekhyun would be stuck at home with Suho. Alone. 

He had enough of this show. It was the same thing over and over. He didn’t understand why Chanyeol looked so engaged, it seemed extremely unnecessary to him. “I’m going to go to bed.” He announced before standing up. 

“Why so early?” Suho asked, looking at his watch. “It’s only nine.”

“I don’t want to be tired for the game tomorrow,” Baekhyun responded, placing his plate in the sink. “It’s the first one of the season, I have to do well.”

“Oh, shit.” Suho cursed, bringing his hands to his forehead. “I forgot about that.”

“You what?” Baekhyun asked. 

“Yeah. I’m so sorry, Baekhyun. I can’t make it tomorrow. I had no idea it already started. I made arrangements for tomorrow night already.” He admitted, looking back to Baekhyun with sad eyes. 

“Really? You can’t make it?” Baekhyun responded, hurt. He tried to keep himself together, knowing Suho didn’t do it on purpose. But it was still frustrating. The fact that he forgot in the first place was already unsettling to him. 

“Yeah. I’m so sorry.” He repeated. 

He hung his head in disappointment for a few seconds before Chanyeol spoke up, “I can go.”

“Really?” Baekhyun asked, immediately raising his head back up. 

“Yeah. Just tell me when it is. I’d be happy to go and see you play.” He said, smiling. 

Baekhyun returned the smile. “Thanks. I’ll let you know everything tomorrow.”

“Great, can’t wait!”


	16. sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look at me updating early again haha
> 
> nothing much to say but enjoy!

It was the fourth quarter of the game. The last margin, where time was everything and determination outweighed everything else. They were up like 81 to 69, keeping a steady lead for a majority of the game. There was now barely 5 minutes left in the game. 

It was their first game of the season. Practice weeks were over and they were finally getting into the good parts; actual gameplay. Baekhyun, being the team captain, was the readiest and excited to begin. Even though he had missed a few practices, he still felt like he was ready and prepared for it. Their team was actually pretty good, so he had good confidence that they would do well and take the lead. And he was right. 

Nobody could have predicted the outcome since both teams were very closely matched. But Baekhyun had a feeling that they would be able to pull ahead and bring home the win. It would set the season off to a great start and give the team great encouragement; which the new players on the team definitely needed. In general, he thought he was a good team captain. He always knew how to get the team excited and ready to play. Especially during games, when they need it the most. He’s their most reliable member, generally, and always hypes the team on by encouraging them to give it everything they have.

So to keep up their success, he needed to keep the mood up and the game worth playing. The captain is responsible for the team. It’s his duty to rile them up when needed and to do what he needs to do to win. What does it mean for the rest of the season if they end up losing the first game? 

But, he wasn’t necessarily worried about that. By the looks of the score, they had a good chance of winning no matter what happened in the next few minutes. The issue was more internal, something probably only Baekhyun was thinking about. 

He hadn’t scored at all. Not a single time. Not even a field goal, let alone a whole touchdown. It was very unusual for him. A few times he was extremely close to making it, but every single time something happened to prevent that from happening. It was frustrating, to say the least. The stress of this has been killing him inside. Everything running through his mind was in relation to this issue. Every single thought. All he needed was for the ball to be in his hands. After that, he could pull anything. He wanted to run, to charge into the goal line like he never had before. That’s all he needed, he kept telling himself. He didn’t even care about the score anymore. Hell, they could be down 6 to 67 and he would be happy if he was the one that made those six damn points.

He did feel guilty though, choosing himself instead of the team by this preference, but he couldn't help it. Parts of this made him question why he was made the captain. How was he supposed to be there for the team if he wasn’t even there for himself?

But all of this wiped out of his head when a chance to score is brought to his attention. It was the best moment he had throughout the entire game so far. Sehun had caught the ball at the 30-yard line. He was looking directly at him, reading to throw it to right into his arms. He couldn’t let himself down anymore, he had to make it. 

With barely three minutes left, he got the ball. Finally, it was in his possession. The moment he waited for the past two hours for was finally closer than he could imagine. The other team was mainly crowded closer to the other side of the field, so he had a clear view. That could switch in an instant though, less than a millisecond. The other team is now down a few points, so they’re most likely giving it all they have on the field. 

He told himself that he’s done this so many times, way too many to count. He knows exactly how to play, how to score. He just has to run the best he can while avoiding the other team. He had to prevent them from _getting hold of that fucking ball!_ He kept replaying the process in his head. To just run, to go forward. That’s all he had to do at this point. Because what kind of captain can’t score in a game?

He ran. He ran like the fate of his life entirely depended on it. Like it depended on getting this one ball to the other side of the field. He ran faster than he ever had before while his heart beat like it was about to burst out of his chest. The ball was rested in his arms with his arms having a firm grip on it, ensuring that it wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The more he was, the closer he got. The view clearer. He had almost made it, the feel of victory being seconds away. 

But then, plop.

It happened so quickly. Another team player had come up from behind him quickly, wrapping his arms around Baekhyun’s torso and dragging his entire body to the ground. The whistle was blown, indicating the end of the play. His perfect chance had been lost. All this waiting and preparation, and it was gone just like that. 

He debated grabbing the player that tackled him and throwing him onto the ground, but he had already walked away proudly. Baekhyun remained sitting on the field, breathing heavily out of frustration. His hands twitched with the urge to hit something, the urge to seek revenge. But he couldn’t do anything extreme out in the open. Not in plain sight, not again. Especially not in front of his entire team. 

He picked himself off of the field before any of his teammates had a chance to run over to him. The game was minutes away from being over, there would be no way he’d get another chance to score in that small time frame. The rest of the game wasn’t even worth playing. They would win, but he wouldn’t have contributed to that success at all. He ran to the sidelines without even a glance back to the field, too frustrated to even look at it. 

The coach looked at him with a confused expression.“Baekhyun? What are you doing? Get back on the field!” He shouted, motioning towards the field. 

“Put someone else in.” He hissed in response, taking a seat at one of the far benches. He didn’t have the energy to deal with the coach right now, “I need a moment.”

He remained on the bench with his head in his hands, waiting out the rest of the few minutes of the game. The energy he had was completely wiped out of him. He couldn’t even keep his head up longer than a few seconds, which was just enough to notice his coach sending him death glares. 

The whistle blew barely five minutes later and the game was over, they had won. 

But Baekhyun didn’t feel like they did. 

The team started to celebrate in the centre of the field, but he stayed back. He’d rather watch everyone else celebrate their wins. Nobody else felt down about not scoring let he did. However, he couldn’t help the feeling. It came naturally, he wasn’t even able to force himself to enjoy their win. 

“Baekhyun, what’s wrong? We won!” Sehun came up to him, throwing a hand onto his back. 

“I know.” He responded, but his expression didn’t change. He avoided his friends gaze, too embarrassed to look at him in the eye. Internal battles are something he experienced often, but nobody else needed to know that. 

He stepped up out of the bleachers, deciding he needed to be completely alone at the moment. He felt Sehun’s gaze on him while he walked away, but didn’t turn back to speak to him. 

“He’s got a fragile ego, he’ll be okay.” He heard Sehun say to one of the newer members. 

With a sigh, he sat on a bench near the backside of the field. It was mostly hidden away from public view, only the players knew of its presence. Which made it the perfect choice to sit on and avoid everything else. The sky was slowly growing darker, illuminating the field up with more bright lights. But not here, everything was dark back here. Away from everything, everyone. Just him, the stars and this bench. 

Rustles were heard behind the bushes nearby, causing Baekhyun’s attention to avert from himself to the mysterious sound. Did someone follow him here? He squinted slightly, trying to make sense of whoever, or whatever, it was despite the darkness. A familiar voice was audible, causing Baekhyun to raise his eyebrows. 

“What the hell is this place? Why are you back here? The entire team is celebrating, but they’re without their captain.” Chanyeol questioned, stepping through the bush. 

“Fuck off.” Baekhyun murmured, wondering how he even got back here. 

Chanyeol paused for a second. “You look upset. What’s wrong? You played great!”

“Are you fucking kidding? I didn't even score." Baekhyun responded harshly, kicking the ground in front of him in frustration. 

Chanyeol rolled his eyes. “That’s what you’re worried about? Who cares about that? I wasn’t even paying attention to who scored what and I doubt anyone else was as well. I was just watching you run! Wow, how does someone have that much energy? Truly amazing.” He beamed, looking closer at Baekhyun’s face after he moved his hands out of the way. “Baekhyun? Are you crying? Why are you crying?”

“Just leave me alone.” He whined, furiously wiping the droplets that fell from his face. He felt humiliated, crying in front of Chanyeol about something so simple, so stupid. But he couldn’t help it. They just started to fall down. 

“Hey, hey. It’s okay.” Chanyeol said calmly, walking towards him slowly. “I’m not one to judge.” He sat on the bench next to him, wrapping his arm around his shoulder. Baekhyun felt warmth in his embrace. It was firm, tight, and warm. They stayed in this comfortable position while Baekhyun tried to focus on other things to calm himself down. He thought about how rationally Chanyeol reacted. He didn’t tease him, make fun of him or anything in that category. 

"I guess you really like football,” Chanyeol spoke after they had been sitting in that position for a few minutes.

"Yeah."

"Do you think you'll want to play in college?" He asked. 

Baekhyun opened his eyes, focusing all of his attention on that question. He hadn’t actually thought of that before. He thought it would play it by ear after High School, the idea of actually going to college never crossed his mind. "I don’t know. I’ve never thought about that.” He responded honestly.

“Really? Never? Wow. I think you could do it, though. Maybe you didn’t score today, but you definitely showed enough to prove yourself. The whole game isn’t about individually scoring, it’s about contributing as a team to win together. I lost count of how many goals you helped prevent them from scoring, so essentially you did score.” 

“You really think I could play on a College team?” Baekhyun asked. 

“Of course I do. I don’t lie.”

“Oh… thank you.” He said, not knowing what else to say. Did Chanyeol really think he was good enough to play on a college team? Suho had never told him anything like that. In fact, he barely gave much attention to his football games at all. He simply attended the event, then drove him home once it was over.

“Of course. I think it’s really cool that you have something that you’re so passionate about.”

“Like you with cooking,” Baekhyun added in. 

“Exactly! Right on, kid.” Chanyeol exclaimed, slightly tickling his stomach. Baekhyun gave a giggle in response, fighting his hand off before he could progress any further. 

His mood had been lifted by a large margin after talking to Chanyeol. He no longer wanted to wallow in sorrow for the rest of the night. It was therapeutic, and he enjoyed that.


	17. seventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally updating on a saturday. School is officially over for me, so now i have a lot more free time and i hope i can continue to regularly update and that i don't come across a huge writers block :)
> 
> Anyways, here it is. Yay. 
> 
> I've still got a lot of writing built up that hasn't been posted yet, so i will definitely maintain the tuesday/wednesday update but saturday updates will be more spotty, but hopefully more recurring than they have been in the past. But this story is far from over! There will be at least 20k more words, easily, considering how much i have already written and planned. 
> 
> But thank you for reading my story. I hope it's not that bad haha. 
> 
> i dont feel like this chapter is my best but, oh well. here it is

They got their kitchen fixed. Finally. It took around two continuous days of loud, annoying noise, but it was completed. It looked good as new, appearing even better than it had looked before. Chanyeol had, of course, volunteered to pay for it, saving Baekhyun and Suho the extra stress of having to scrape together funds. As long as food could be produced in it, Baekhyun was happy. 

As soon as it was finished, to celebrate the addition of their new kitchen, Baekhyun invited Sehun over to practice football. He decided that he needed a lot more practice if he was going to improve himself; to make sure the upcoming weekend wouldn’t be a repeat of last week. He was determined to get it this time, he needed to _score_. The thought of participating in another game without scoring made him shutter, encouraging him to seek out the extra practice. He wasn’t going to play another entire game without at least getting something out of it. Meaning, some pride for himself. 

He tugged at the front door until it opened, letting Sehun in behind him. Nobody was home yet, thankfully, so they walked inside. Sehun volunteered to drive them both to his house right after school so they could fit in as much ball throwing as they could. They arrived slightly after Baekhyun’s normal arrival time due to stopping by at the store, but luckily nobody else was home yet to notice. He tossed his backpack onto the couch, deciding it wasn’t important right now. 

“We can go out back to practice.” Baekhyun announced after they grabbed a ball from the garage “There isn’t a lot of room back there, but it should be enough to toss a few balls.”

“Cool,” Sehun replied, tossing the football into the air a few times. He brought his attention to the other half of the house and raised his eyebrows at the new kitchen. “The kitchen looks so much nicer than it did before, not going to lie.” He said. 

“Well, I agree. At least we got something positive out of this.” Baekhyun replied, glancing back at the newly refurbished area. Chanyeol had picked out a majority of their new equipment, claiming he needed the kitchen to look ‘acceptable’ if he was going to cook here on a regular basis. He didn’t doubt his choice at all, though. It looked really nice. 

“Yeah, at least there’s that. A guy comes in here and sets your house on fire, it still sounds completely crazy to me. What a dick move.” Sehun commented.  
Baekhyun felt his heart leap slightly, forgetting that he told Sehun everything about Chanyeol. He even told him how much of a dick he used to think he was, but his opinion had changed greatly now. He paused in his tracks for a moment, shooting an awkward smile at Sehun. It wouldn’t make any difference to tell him now, so he just muttered a small ‘yeah’ before turning to open up the back door. 

They tossed the ball around in the grass for a while. It was more intense than real practice, he felt. The determination of improving made him give it his all when the ball was in his hands, even if they were only practicing. His entire body started aching after the first-hour mark, but he enjoyed the feel of it. It meant he was doing _something_ that would help him play better in the future. They did drills throughout the yard, improvising with the resources they had. The most notable play was when Baekhyun tackled Sehun, then proceeded to sit on him for a while. Which had to be concerning from a neighbors point of view. 

The back door swung open in the middle of their practice. Chanyeol stepped out of the door and onto the porch, sporting his daily suit and hairstyle. He walked over to the railing and looked out, calling to him in the process. “Baekhyun! I didn’t know you were out here. I’ve been looking for you.”

Sehun immediately stopped the gameplay to follow Baekhyun’s gaze over to Chanyeol. He cursed to himself after realizing that the Sehun and Chanyeol were now in the same area; again. And Sehun has made it clear enough that he doesn’t have a strong liking for Chanyeol. He glanced over towards Baekhyun with raised eyebrows that he was able to see out of the corners of his eyes. His focus was mainly on the man standing with a smile on his face and his hands on the deck railings. Why couldn’t it have been Suho that came home first? Then, he would have been able to shuffle Sehun out before Chanyeol was even part of the picture. Now, he was stuck in an awkward situation that had an unpredictable ending. 

Thankfully, Chanyeol kept his boundaries well enough. He didn’t walk down to them and try to make any more small talk.“I’m going to make dinner,” He announced, not even waiting for Baekhyun to say anything back. “I’ll tell you guys when it’s ready. Your friend is welcome to join us too,” He finished with a big welcoming smile. 

Baekhyun gave a slight nod in response, hoping that Chanyeol takes the hint and walks inside. He glanced over to Sehun, who’s confused eyes were already looking at him. “Why does he come over here if you hate him?” He questioned, a little too loudly for Baekhyun’s taste. His breath hitches in his throat, turning his head toward Chanyeol and silently hoping he had already walked inside. 

But, he wasn’t. In fact, he hadn’t even turned around yet. He was still in the same position, glancing down on the field. Baekhyun knew he heard that. He had to have. There was no way he didn’t. Unless there was suddenly an earthquake that shattered his eardrums out in the past five seconds, those words went into his ears. 

Chanyeol turned around after giving a small wave before walking inside, appearing unaffected. Baekhyun watched him walk inside, wondering if he didn’t care. Was he just not affected by it? Even if he didn’t, Baekhyun still felt awkward. He knew Sehun wasn’t to blame, considering he was the one who fed the information to him in the first place, but part of him wanted to so badly. He didn’t know how to respond to Sehun. What was he supposed to say to that? He gave a small shrug with a small smile, though it looked more like he was cringing. 

Sehun opted to throw around the ball some more, but Baekhyun had a hard time focusing on the sport. All that was on his mind was Chanyeol, for some reason. He didn’t understand why, but he couldn’t think of anything else. If this had taken place weeks ago, he would have been overjoyed to have Chanyeol know that he hated him enough to _tell other people_ about it. But now, it just felt wrong of him. 

He bitterly threw the ball across the yard a few more times, feeling relieved when Sehun mentioned that he had to leave now and couldn’t stay for dinner. He led him around the house instead of walking through it, feeling blessed that he made the last minute decision to bring their backpacks outside. 

Once Sehun had driven away, Baekhyun awkwardly opened the front door, aware that he was going to make it awkward. Even if Chanyeol seemed unaffected, Baekhyun would still feel uncomfortable being around him. He took a step into the kitchen, noticing Chanyeol sitting at the kitchen table while reading a newspaper. He didn’t do much else, Baekhyun noticed. Just cooked dinner, read newspapers and drank some coffee.

“Your friend didn’t want to stay for dinner?” Chanyeol called out to him. “I have a casserole in the oven.” His voice came out calmly with his eyes not even glancing up from the paper he was reading. It appeared that he didn’t care at all, like he had no interest. 

Baekhyun looked around awkwardly for a moment before stepping into the house, biting his lip slightly with uneasiness. He didn’t know if Chanyeol was deliberately ignoring the situation or if he hadn’t even heard the comment in the first place. Which would take a pound of weight off his shoulders.

The more he thought about it, the more he started to doubt that Chanyeol would even care. Why was he so worried?

“Um,” Baekhyun stammered, rubbing the back of his head. “He had to… go.” He responded hesitantly, trying to not let his nervousness show. 

Chanyeol looked up to him with blank eyes, not that they read much on a daily basis, and gave a small shrug. “That’s too bad. I thought he would like it. He’s the one from the locker room, right? The one who looked like he wanted to kill me?” He teased with a grin. 

So obviously he has caught onto the fact that Sehun didn’t like him. But there would be no reason for Sehun to dislike Chanyeol unless _someone_ was giving him a reason to. And that someone had to be Baekhyun, who was now standing uncomfortably outside of the kitchen, elbow placed on the couch at an awkward angle. He didn’t respond, unable to form a coherent sentence that would turn the conversation into another topic. 

Chanyeol didn’t seem to be behaving any differently, so why was he? Why was he afraid to act normally too? He didn’t understand why his feet won’t move, why he’s sweating under Chanyeol’s gaze, why he got this panicked in the first place. It all had to do with Chanyeol and his feelings.

“What’s wrong? You look stressed.” Chanyeol asked without looking up. 

Baekhyun let out a small sigh, disappointed that it was noticeable enough for Chanyeol to comment on it. “I’m fine.” He stated, knowing it was a lie. 

“Are you sure? Is this about the comment?”

Baekhyun looked up, nodding slowly in shame. Apparently, he had heard it, but he didn’t appear to be all that affected by it. 

“Really? Oh, Baekhyun. I don’t care.” He laughed. “I really don’t, why are you so scared? You look like the lead of a horror movie mid-way through after all the zombies and shit revealed themselves.” He said with an oddly specific comparison. 

Baekhyun released a breath of air he wasn’t aware he was holding it, slowly stepping towards the table and pulling out a chair as quietly as he could. “I thought you would be mad.” He admitted. 

“Mad? Couldn’t be me.” He beamed, taking another sip of whatever was in his cup. Baekhyun hoped it wasn’t caffeine, for Chanyeol’s sake. “I never get mad.” He said with a wide smile, eyes moving back and forth from Baekhyun and the kitchen table. 

Yeah, sure. 

Baekhyun’s mouth opened slightly, letting out a small giggle. He doesn’t know what made him do it, maybe it was the way Chanyeol looked, but it just came out so naturally. Maybe it was the fact that he was just seconds away from peeing himself, freaking out over something so stupid. Literally, something so _stupid_. Why did he think Chanyeol would care? 

Chanyeol noticed the smile he cracked and joined in, smiling wider and laughing along with him. “You’re so cute when you smile.” He said, “You should do it more.”

Baekhyun’s smile turned into an open mouth in shock for a split second before he covered it up with a toothless smile. His brain was processing the words. He knew it was a compliment, obviously, but he didn’t know how to take it. What was he implying with that? 

“Thanks,” Baekhyun responded quietly.


	18. eighteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, heres the next chapter!

It had become their tradition now. Chanyeol would show up every night and they would enjoy a nice meal together, discussing whatever topic came up. It was something Baekhyun now looked forward too, though he wouldn’t directly admit it to Chanyeol’s face. Suho, as usual, was busy with work almost the entire day. So a majority of the time, it was just them two alone. They were free to discuss and talk about whatever they wanted without Suho being an arm's length away. Baekhyun would tell him all about school, rant about all the things that were going on in his life, and Chanyeol would listen to him. He wouldn’t complain about him being too whiny as Suho had always done. Which just led to Baekhyun getting frustrated, causing more problems than solving. 

It’s almost like his brother didn’t take him seriously enough. It seemed like his emotions had been considered a joke to him. He often looked down on him as a _kid_ , a literal kid. A child. Someone who is clueless and knows nothing about the world, about anything.

Chanyeol was different. Besides a few instances, times he has tried to hard to ignore and pretend never happened, he generally speaks to him as an equal. He doesn’t think he’s young and dumb. It was something he didn’t even know he needed in his life, but it changed his outlook on everything so much, and for the better. 

But a few days into their desired therapeutic talk sessions, Chanyeol didn’t show up one night. Baekhyun had waited around almost the entire day, but nothing came out of it. He just simply didn’t come. It was getting too late for him to still be planning on coming either. It didn’t help that Suho said he would be home late because he was busy working on a project for work. So it was just Baekhyun, alone in the house. The faint scent of smoke still lingered slightly in the air, no amount of air freshener was able to mask the stench completely. It felt suffocating without anyone else's breath to circulate the air. His body itched to do something, anything. To talk to someone, have a conversation. He was tired of being alone, but he didn’t know what to do.

He ran through the thoughts swarming his head about why Chanyeol wouldn’t be coming. Was he upset with him? Did he do something to disappoint him? Was he just too busy? Did he forget? His brain couldn’t stop thinking about it, always assuming the worst. He was forced to physically shake his head to get himself to stop thinking about it. Reminiscing on what’s not happening won’t make it happen, he told himself. 

So, there he was. Sitting alone at the kitchen table gnawing on some leftover pizza that was sitting in the fridge. It tasted bland in comparison to the wondrous meals he had been given the past nights. The house felt empty. It was too quiet, too bland for his liking. Suho eventually walked in closer to 9 at night. He looked tired, as usual. But by that time, Baekhyun was too set on watching a TV marathon to even get up to greet him. He had drifted off slightly and only awoke when his brother gave him a small shove. “Hey.” 

Baekhyun mumbled in response, snuggling more into the blanket he was curled up in. 

“Did you have dinner with Chanyeol?” Suho asked, picking up a remote to mute the television. 

“No,” Baekhyun responded, not bothering to even lift his head up. “He never came.” 

“Really?” Suho asked. “Did something happen?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“Did you call him?”

“No.” He responded, suddenly wondering why that thought hadn’t come to him hours earlier. It wouldn’t have necessarily made Chanyeol come over, but it might have given him some more insight on his whereabouts. That is, if he actually picked up. 

“I’ll call him, then,” Suho said before whipping out his phone and dialing the number. Baekhyun brought his attention back to The Game Of Thrones season he was watching. 

Suho walked off into the kitchen while Baekhyun put the television back on. He could have listened to their conversation but figured that he would find out what they were talking about eventually. It appeared that Chanyeol did answer the phone though, so he hoped some of the questions he had would have answers. 

“He said he was on a date,” Suho announced, walking back into the living room. 

Baekhyun shot up off of the couch, putting his full attention onto the words that just came out of Suho’s mouth. A date? Chanyeol was on a date? That didn’t sound like something he would do. “He’s on a date? Is he dating someone?” He asked. 

“He didn’t say. Good for him, though. He’s a nice guy, anybody would be lucky to date him.” Suho said. “But he said he’ll be back tomorrow night. Did you at least eat something?” 

Baekhyun gave a small nod, still processing the information that Chanyeol had gone on a _date_. Who was it with? A girl? A boy? He wasn’t entirely sure of Chanyeol’s sexuality, it wasn’t a topic that had even come up. More questions started to develop in his mind, but he prevented himself from thinking about the topic anymore. It wasn’t any of his business who Chanyeol went out with. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to clear his mind while avoiding Suho’s gaze. 

“Good. Do some studying, stop wasting your time with screens.” He clicked the Tv off, standing in front of it. “Just because Chanyeol’s not here doesn’t mean you can’t study on your own.” He added. 

Baekhyun scowled, kicking the blanket off of him. “I know!” He barked back. Five minutes into Suho being home and he was already talking about grades and school. 

“I’ll be in the shower. Go to bed after you do some homework.” He said, throwing up a peace sign before heading upstairs. He had shut off the kitchen light, leaving it almost completely dark and silent downstairs. An environment Baekhyun hated being in. He stared at the wall, sulking. The show he was watching just didn’t seem interesting to him anymore. All he wanted was company, someone to talk to. Despite him being social at school all day, he still felt like he needed more human interaction for the day. Usually, whenever he was alone, he didn’t feel completely lonely. But today was different. He felt incredibly empty. 

Eventually, he ended up just falling asleep right on the couch, closing the night out on a bitter note. 

-

So the next day, Baekhyun made sure he sat at that damn kitchen table, waiting for Chanyeol to come no matter how long it would take. The option of calling him was still out there, but he decided to give him some time first. A chance to show up before he received the call. It wasn’t like he had any obligations to come; Chanyeol was still his own person who was free to do whatever he wanted with his life. Which was okay with Baekhyun, he just wanted to have some before-hand notice. 

Since Chanyeol had told Suho on the phone that he would be back the next day, Baekhyun was going to hold onto his word. He wanted to believe that he would come and he wouldn’t be stuck eating leftovers again. He wanted to sit at the kitchen table and hold a conversation while Chanyeol was cooking whatever he wanted on their stove. That was their tradition now, he had gotten used to us. 

Almost right on time, Chanyeol walked in the door. Not even a minute late from the usual 5:30-6 timeframe. He had a bag of Subway in his hands. “Hey. I decided not to cook something today. I hope you like Subs.” He said with a shy smile. 

Baekhyun accepted it, just relieved that he was here. There were many questions he wanted to ask about yesterday, but he decided to keep shut for now. Chanyeol’s appearance looked slightly different, Baekhyun noticed. His hair looked much messier than it would normally be, almost like he put zero effort into it at all. 

“Your hair looks different today,” Baekhyun mentioned, realizing that there didn’t appear to be any gel in it at all. 

“It was a really busy morning. I didn’t have time to completely style it. As you might have noticed, I’m kind of a mess today.” He joked. 

“Just today?” Baekhyun teased. 

“I guess not.” He smiled in response. “You know, it’s kind of weird.” 

“What is?” Baekhyun asked. 

“All of this. I don’t know, I don’t usually do this. Like, hang out with people outside of work. Sometimes I try, but nobody usually sticks around long enough to get to know me. I don’t talk to many other people.” Chanyeol admitted. “I know, I am kind of forcing this friendship by showing up every day, but I haven’t heard any complaints yet so I guess I’m in the clear.”

“I don’t mind it,” Baekhyun responded, digging into the sub. “You’re good company.” Having this conversation felt weird to him. Chanyeol basically just admitted that he has zero friends. Which makes sense, considering how much time he spent at Baekhyun’s house, but it was still sad to hear coming out of his mouth. 

“Are you sure? I know I would mind it if I had to deal with someone like me every day. I don’t know, honestly. Sometimes I question why I put so much effort into this. It’s just confusing. Something about you is just so intriguing, I can’t get my eyes off of you. You’re really mellow for the most part until you disagree with something, then you stand up for yourself. You seem to have a lot of self-pride, but only for yourself and the things you care about. At least, that's what I’ve observed from you. You’re welcome to tell me more if you want.”

 

Baekhyun looked up to him, wondering what exactly he meant by all that. Of course, he expected Chanyeol to know a few things about his personality considering how much time they’ve spent together, but he didn’t expect him to say it right to his face like that. He was incredibly accurate, for the most part. He mentioned how _intriguing_ Baekhyun was, which certainly wasn’t a word he’d heard to describe himself before. Maybe it was just the side of him that Chanyeol was able to see, a side he hadn’t shown anyone else. A side that came naturally when he was around Chanyeol. 

Because even his own brother didn’t notice _that_ much about him.

“You’re really good at observing people,” Baekhyun replied. He tried to keep his tone as flat as usual, pushing away all of the other things he wanted to say out of his head. He could have given Chanyeol praise at how much he paid attention to him. More than anyone else ever had. It made him feel joy inside, that someone cared enough about him to want to make observations about him. Their friendship was securing itself tighter and tighter with every word spoken, as Baekhyun could feel the connection happening. It wasn’t one like the friendships he has at school with people his own age, it felt different. 

Everything was falling into its normal place again. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were enjoying their meal at the table, talking like nothing ever happened. Neither of them even brought up the dating topic from yesterday. Baekhyun decided it wouldn’t be his place to talk about it. So if Chanyeol wasn’t, then he wouldn’t as well. Things looked up from here. 

But the next night, Chanyeol didn’t show up again.


	19. nineteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitely the chapter with the longest paragraphs so far, whew. Theres not a lot of action in this chapter, more simple things and a lot of thoughts and descriptions. This is one of my favorite moments so far. Its also now the longest chapter to date. Even though i cringed so much while writing it, i think it came out okay and moves the story along more. Thank you for reading! I love reading everyone's comments, they make me so happy <333 please leave your thoughts on the story/chapter if you'd like!

The next night, Chanyeol didn’t show up again. Baekhyun didn’t exactly know how he was supposed to feel about it. Half of him expected it, but the other half was confused. Things looked so good yesterday, everything seemed fine. He understood that Chanyeol does have other things going on in life, but it’s not like he had many other friends to hang out with, he even told Baekhyun that himself. So was he on a date again? With someone else, or the same person? He didn’t think it could be either, his silence yesterday hinted that the previous one didn’t work out. Baekhyun didn’t think he could have found another date that quickly, nobody could have. Even someone as straightforward and talkative as Chanyeol is. 

That brought him back to the same question he had just the other day, where was Chanyeol? It was almost a repeat of that night, except Suho had come home earlier. But he didn’t give Baekhyun the attention he was desiring, only giving a single head rub before crashing into bed for presumably the night. He was sitting at the same table in the same spot as the same thoughts ran through his head. It was only slightly less lonely due to the snoring machine upstairs. Every inch of this house was now burned into the back of his brain due to the amount of time he spent glaring at every single object. Nothing else appeared enough to him to take away his attention from sulking and waiting. The only move he made was walking over to the pantry to make some ramen; then proceeding to sit on the couch for the remainder of the night. 

When midnight rolled around, he didn’t feel like getting up from his comfortable position to head upstairs to fall asleep. It didn’t make any sense to leave a comfortable position just to go to another one. Nobody was here to tell him not to sleep on the couch, so why shouldn’t he? He closed his eyes after clicking off the television, laying his head down comfortably on a pillow. 

They were barely closed for more than five minutes, opening suddenly when a tiny but distinctive knock was heard in the near distance. At first, the sound seemed like it wasn’t there, as if it was something his brain imagined. But it happened again, slightly louder. He sat up out of the couch, deciding it had to be the door. His tired brain assumed it had to be Suho, though he was fairly sure the older was still asleep upstairs in his bed. Groaning profusely at the loud sound, he decided to stand up and check who was making it. It wasn’t normal for people to be coming to their house at all, not to mention in the middle of the night. So whoever was here would have to have a good reason to come. 

Baekhyun tiptoed through the house slowly, using his phone as a flashlight so he could navigate. He reached the door just seconds after another small knock came from the other side. Fastening his hand over the handle, he flung it open, not knowing what he was expecting to find. 

And there he was. Chanyeol, specifically. The one he wanted the entire day for was now standing at the entrance to his house. His hair was all over the place, it looked like a tornado had attacked every single strand. His frame was leaning against the wall slightly, tired eyes glaring at Baekhyun. His gaze seemed off, appearing as if he zero clue about where he was or what was happening. 

The one thing Baekhyun noticed first was the stench. Chanyeol _reeked_ of alcohol. It was so painfully obvious that he was drunk. The scent was strong, almost blinding. Like he decided to take a bath in it. A very long bath. The air flew immediately into Baekhyun’s face, causing him to scrunch up his nose in response. It smelled horrible, bitter, sickening. Baekhyun was even concerned that it was enough to fly up the stairs and wake up Suho from his deep sleep. 

“Chanyeol?” He asked, looking out onto the patio. He held his arm out, grabbing Chanyeol’s to give him more support. A smile was widely spread out on his face, legs moving slightly back and forth. “Are you drunk? Did you drive here?” Baekhyun questioned. Being drunk was one thing, but driving while drunk was something else. 

“Of course not. I took a-” He paused to hiccup. “A taxi. It took me here, like I told it to. Very smart of it, if you ask me. How they navigate, very interesting.” His voice slurred as his foot moved an inch into the door frame. “I can come in, right? I hope I’m not too late. Did the party already end?” 

“Party? No, there’s no party here. This is my house. Just lower your voice a little, I don’t want Suho to wake up.” He shushed, moving his hand up and down to indicate that it needed to be quiet in here. 

“Oh, Suho’s here? So it is a party?” Chanyeol responded, crossing his arms. “Are you lying to me?” 

“What? No!” Baekhyun whisper shouted, “Nevermind that, just come inside. But be quiet, please,” He interlocked his hand with Chanyeol’s, surprised at how quickly the older accepted it, and led him over towards the couch. “Lay down here.” He instructed, basically shoving Chanyeol onto it after he didn’t act on it immediately. “I’ll get you some water.” Deciding that would be one of his safest bets for the night. It’d been a while since he’d dealt with someone who was drunk.

“I’m going to start crying now,” Chanyeol announced from the other side of the living room. “I hope it’s not too loud for you.” 

“Why?” Baekhyun asked, only to hear faint whimpers begin instead of a response. 

“I admit I went out on a date. I’m sorry about that, I will admit it.” 

“Why are you sorry?”

“I’m sorry to myself, for putting myself through that. I did it too-” He paused, sniffling some more. “I did it to myself.” He said. “And I…” His voice trailed off. “I don’t know what I’m trying to say. I’m just embarrassed and humiliated.”

“About what? Did things not go well?”

“With what?”

“The…” Baekhyun paused for a second, finding it awkward to bring up. “Date.”

“Oh. Who said I was talking about that?”

Baekhyun decided that drunk Chanyeol wasn’t as intelligent as sober Chanyeol was. “Nevermind, then.”

“I’m a mess, Baekhyun. I truly am. It might not be obvious to you, but I am.”

He walked back over to the couch, now carrying an ice cold glass of water to deliver to the crying man. At this point, he was just confused. Whether or not Chanyeol was spouting nonsense or speaking logically was beyond him. It occurred to him that it was past midnight on a school night, and a drunk grown man was crying and ranting on his couch. He’d never expected to be in this situation. 

“I went on a stupid date, more as a distraction. But I wanted to see you the entire time.” Chanyeol moaned, sniffing in some tears. 

Now they were back to the topic of a date. He stood in front of the couch, surprised by the sudden statement. This conversation was jumping all over the place. Did Chanyeol just feel bad about not making him dinner that night? Is that why he came over here? “Why?” He asked quietly, somewhat hoping Chanyeol wouldn’t hear. He had no idea what kind of answer he was expecting to get, maybe it was better left unsaid. For Chanyeol’s sake. 

“I…” His voice trailed off before the sentence even started. “I can’t say that. It’s humiliating, I’m humiliated. I’m…” He groaned, rolling over onto his side. “I feel so sick. And terrible.”

“Is there anything else you want me to get for you?” Baekhyun asked, deciding to direct the conversation elsewhere. He reached forward to grab onto the remote, hoping that some background noise might help. 

“No, I just need to fall asleep, somehow. That’s all I need. It would be easier if his couch wasn’t so incredibly small.” Chanyeol chuckled softly. He was silent for a moment longer, busy adjusting his position, before blurting out, “I want to lay with you.”

Baekhyun raised his eyebrows in surprise and took a step backward. The remote almost fell out of his hands as he scanned Chanyeol’s face for any sign of joking. But there wasn’t any, he seemed serious. “What?” 

“Let’s cuddle.” He continued. “I don’t want to be alone tonight, without someone. Without _you_. Just stay here with me, for now. At least until I fall asleep. We don’t have to cuddle, we don't have to do that, don’t worry. You just stay here, with me.” He muttered, half talking into the pillow. “Shit, you're probably so fucking warm. I’m freezing. Baekhyun, I'm so cold. Just keep me company and I'll love you forever. I'll love you. I'll take care of you, I want you. I want you with me right now, so much. Just hold me now, please” He whimpered sadly, tugging at Baekhyun’s shirt and looking up at him with sad puppy-dog eyes. 

Thoughts were running through his head faster than they ever had before, but he couldn't think. There were too many things to process, but his mind paused for a moment and all he could do was follow his instincts. He’d never felt his body be more disconnected from his brain than at that very moment. Before he could even blink again, his butt was planted on the couch while his hands were adjusting Chanyeol’s head on his lap. It almost seemed like it was an obligation, like he had no choice to refuse. How many people wouldn’t stay with someone who asked like that? The emotion in his voice was strong and his face looked upset. It was heartbreaking to see, even if Chanyeol was completely wasted. 

There he was, sitting on the couch while one of the supposedly most dreaded faces in his life is laying right on top of him. Right on his lap. Smack in the center of his lap. Chanyeol’s feet and legs were bent due to his size being too much for their skimpy couch. The house was quiet for a while after that. He didn’t know what else to say and eventually assumed Chanyeol fell asleep. His body made light movements up and down, an indication that he was breathing and indeed still alive. Baekhyun ran his hands through Chanyeol’s mess of hair a few times, his body acting without thought once again. The tangles caused his fingers to get stuck a few times but he didn’t mind at all. It just made the situation more believable in a sense. This all would have felt like a dream to him if it weren’t for the slight imperfect details. What does one do in this situation besides comply? It’s not like he could just leave him alone when he begged like that, he didn’t have the energy or mindset to fight against the force. 

Chanyeol’s face looked so pale, yet peaceful. Like there was no worries out in the world for him. As if his only concern in life was getting a peaceful sleep this one night. Just this night. With his eyes closed, Baekhyun could finally get a good look at his face so close up, something he hadn’t been able to experience yet. His cheeks had a hint of pink dotting the surface while a few stray tears dribbled down his cheeks. 

He just appeared to be so… real.

Baekhyun’s eyes wandered over to the clock on the wall The realization that it was a school night was like a slap in the face. If he wanted to be awake at school tomorrow, he needed to get to sleep fast. However, it didn’t look like Chanyeol would be moving any time soon. He couldn’t just get up and disturb Chanyeol, that wouldn’t be right. The options seemed low so he told himself to just stay put and sleep right where he was. Any sort reaction Suho would have wasn’t his worry, that’s for his morning self to stress about. Right now, he just needed to find a comfortable position to sleep in without disturbing Chanyeol. 

His shuffling was interrupted by a small, barely audible voice from his lap. “Do you ever feel like you’re trapped in your own body?” Chanyeol muttered, eyes still closed. “Like there’s a part of you that’s trying to break out but it just… can’t.”

Baekhyun didn’t try to respond, wondering if Chanyeol was actually talking to him or just sleep talking. It appeared that he was asleep earlier, but he might not have been in it deep. 

“Sometimes I feel like I’m just a robot, like I’m not in control of myself. Like there’s someone else behind a screen telling me what to say and do. Whoever it is, they’re doing a pretty shitty job at it.” He joked, a toothy smile peeking out. “I’ll be quiet now. Goodnight, Baekhyun.”


	20. twenty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello i am back. And i took over a week to update whoops. Ive been really tired and busy lately and i havent had as much time or inspiration to write. I added more to the story in general, but avoided editing the next chapter like the black plague. Im even writing this note before the actual chapter oops. Oh well. Heres what i managed to put together much later than i thought i would have. To make up for the long break, i made the chapter extra long hurray. This makes the story at about 40k words, which is just crazy in my opinion. I have no idea how i sat down and wrote this all these past 3 months, considering i did not write at all before i started it. Its crazy, literally. Thank you to everyone who has been reading my shitty story, i love you all <333 And i promise, any stories I write in the future will be SO much better lol, now that I actually have experience with writing.
> 
> But, i do think im going to be updating only once a week, maybe more but right now i just dont want the added stress.
> 
> (oh and i thought it might be a good time to mention that the story takes place in like sep/oct 2019! Idk why i made it in the future thats just how things worked out haha)

“What the hell?” Was the first thing Baekhyun heard the next morning. It was loud in his ear, awakening him from a deep sleep almost instantly. His head rose up, looking around confused as his eyes adjusted to the surroundings. It took him a few moments to realize that he wasn’t in his bed, the normal spot he would wake up in. His eyes shifted upwards where there was a large figure standing above him, standing with a confused expression painted on his face. It had to be Chanyeol, he concluded. The events from last night eventually flew back into his brain, making the whole situation make more sense. Chanyeol’s face was red from what he could tell, but Baekhyun couldn’t tell if he was blushing or if they were still pink from being intoxicated. 

“What?” Baekhyun responded, half playing dumb and acting like he had no idea what was going on. Chanyeol didn’t seem like he would have remembered anything from last night anyway, judging by the way he was so out of it. It didn’t take a genius to tell that he had been drunk. 

“What are you doing? Why are you laying with me?” He questioned, glaring back at Baekhyun with horrified eyes. 

“Because you asked me to,” Baekhyun answered calmly. It wouldn’t make any sense to lie in this situation. Chanyeol needed to find out sooner or later that _he_ was the one who brought all of this onto himself. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” He argued back, crossing his arms. Barely two seconds had passed before his hands were already on his head, cupping the sides of it. A cringe appeared on his face. “Fuck, my head hurts.” 

“That can happen when you get drunk,” Baekhyun answered.

“Drunk?” Chanyeol repeated, looking around confused. “Is that what happened? I got _drunk_?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you get drunk too?” He shouted, hands clamped over his mouth. “Did I give you any alcohol?”

“No!” Baekhyun yelled immediately, quickly preventing the misunderstanding from getting any more misunderstood. They both needed to keep this conversation quiet, quick and short before Suho awakens and hears anything that he shouldn’t. “You came here drunk last night.”

“I… I think I remember that part now. Shit, I’m so stupid. What was I thinking?” Chanyeol grumbled, rubbing his hands up and down his face. “Did I do anything like… weird last night?” He asked.

Baekhyun didn’t know if he should respond truthfully or not. Half of him wanted to just lay everything down and quote what he said word for word, dramatically acting out the events from last night. But the other half vowed to keep everything a secret for now. He ended up going with the ladder, merely shaking his head in response to Chanyeol. Besides, there was a huge chance that Chanyeol wouldn’t even believe what he said if he answered truthfully, so what was the point.

“That’s a relief.” He sighed, looking around the room. “I definitely don’t think I’m going to go to work today. Damn, I don’t even remember how I got here.”

“You took a taxi.”

“Good, at least I’m a smart drunk.” He added with a small smile, though it looked more like a grimace. 

“You can… stay here if you want.” Baekhyun offered hesitantly. He didn’t want to make Chanyeol go home in this state, especially if he didn’t even have his car here. 

“That sounds great, Thank you. You won’t mind if I use the bathroom, right? And possibly everything else in the house.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Thanks. And if your brother asks, because I know he will, just tell him I came here last night sick and ended up falling asleep. Please don’t mention any of this to him, especially the whole getting drunk part. You can do that for me, right?” He asked, nearly begging Baekhyun.

“Of course, I won’t tell him.”

“Thanks, you’re the best.” He smiled before running off into the bathroom to ‘take care of business.’

Everything went down much smoother than he expected it would have. Chanyeol seemed okay with the whole situation and barely asked any questions about what happened. Excluding the initial shock, he didn’t seem out of the ordinary at all. Shouldn’t he have more concerns after waking up on Baekhyun’s lap? It only seemed logical.

His thoughts were interrupted when Suho walked down the stairs moments later, tightening his tie with one hand and fixing his hair with the other. His eyebrows raised in confusion once he saw Baekhyun. “Who’s here? I thought I heard Chanyeol’s voice.”

He shifted his feet slightly, thinking of the words to say to him that would make the whole thing seem _reasonable._ He couldn’t explain exactly what happened, that would just create more questions than he was ready to answer. How much did Chanyeol want him to tell Suho? Leaving out the whole stumbling-here-drunk-in-the-middle-of-the-night was a given, but what else would need to be left out in order to make a believable story? “Yeah, he’s here. He said he wasn’t feeling well didn’t want to be alone last so he came here. He’s in the bathroom now.” Baekhyun answered, motioning his hands over towards the door while silently hoping Suho didn’t ask any further questions. 

“Oh, is he okay?” He asked. 

“He’s fine, I think. I don’t think he’ll be going to work though.”

“That makes sense. He’s welcome to hang here for the day.” He offered, pausing to look at Baekhyun, “You’re still going to school though, go ahead and get ready.”

“I know.” He grumbled. 

-

School went by normally. It was the same thing almost every day to him. Slightly struggling, although much less due to Chanyeol’s help, but always having his thoughts on football practice. Suho had dropped him off at home after picking him up, going back to work to ‘finish important business.’ that Baekhyun ‘wouldn’t understand.’ Which put him in a slightly sour mood, slightly frustrated but not surprised at all. 

He walked into the kitchen after dropping his bag at the front door and saw Chanyeol sitting at the table, legs stretched across multiple chairs as his head hung back. His mouth was slightly parted open and his eyes were closed with arms hanging over the edge of one of the chairs. By the looks of it, he seemed to be asleep. 

Chanyeol’s body jumped up at the sound of Baekhyun closing the door behind him, making him regret slamming the door so loudly. Wide and tired eyes scanned the room for a moment, looking around confused. “You’re back? Is it already that late?”

“Yeah. Suho went back to work.” Baekhyun responded with a small smile parted on his lips, unable to hold it in based on the way Chanyeol looked. Seeing someone who was usually so ‘clean’ looking look like he was on his third all-nighter of the week was certainly a sight for him. Chanyeol’s hair was ruffled, even more than it had been the night before. The clothes even looked unkempt, despite them being the same ones Chanyeol had worn the night before. His completed look appeared like he had been asleep for ten years and just awoke in an unfamiliar area. 

“Good.” He replied before taking a look at the expression Baekhyun held on his face. “Yes, I know I look like shit. Don’t laugh at me.” 

“I wasn't going to laugh,” Baekhyun responded, making his best straight face with a small smile threatening to peak out. 

“Sure you weren’t.” 

“I think you need a haircut. You’d look better with shorter hair.” He blurted out. 

Chanyeol glanced at him and raised his eyebrows. “You think I would? I don’t agree. I haven’t had short hair since I was in high school, and there’s a good reason for that. I hated how it looked.”

“It can’t look worse than right now.” Baekhyun teased, noticing how naturally the conversation seemed to be flowing. 

“Oh is that so?”

“Yes. Please get a haircut.”

“Maybe when I’m feeling better. I still feel so terrible, does alcohol usually have that effect on people? Damn, I can’t imagine people getting drunk all the time. It’s so uncomfortable.”

“You’re probably just not used to it.” He replied, putting a chair out at the table to sit next to Chanyeol. “People who drink a lot are exposed to it much more than a casual drinker” He paused, before adding. “Or maybe you’re just a wimp.”

Chanyeol laughed out loud at that last part, putting a smile on Baekhyun’s face. Being alone all day while feeling sick would have sucked, he realized. Chanyeol was probably happy to finally have someone to talk too. 

“Also, I didn’t have any other clothes so I looked through some of Suho’s stuff. It took me a few minutes before I realized that everything was probably too small for me.” 

“You went through Suho’s room?” Baekhyun asked, looking up at him. 

“Just the clothes, I didn’t do any snooping around or anything, don’t worry.”

Baekhyun nodded in response, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling he got. He hated when people looked around his house, even if it wasn’t _his_ room, it still felt weird. But Chanyeol was home alone in the house all day, of course he was going to look around some. 

Standing up out of the chair, he excused himself to the bathroom for a second. 

Chanyeol called out to him before he could even reach the doorknob, “I wouldn’t use that bathroom, I got sick in there earlier. I cleaned the entire thing, but there could still be some germs lingering around and I don’t want you to get sick.”

“Oh.” He stopped in his tracks, ready to head upstairs to take care of business but paused for a moment as Chanyeol began to speak again. 

“Also, I might have lied about not looking around. I didn’t snoop in anyone’s room though, I promise that. Just around the house. I couldn’t help myself, everything just looked so interesting and I’ve never actually taken the time to examine throughout.” He announced, reaching over towards the counter to pick up what looked like a picture frame. “This is cute.”

Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows, stepping forward slightly while taking it out of Chanyeol’s hands to get a closer look at the frame. His mood dropped the second he set his eyes on it, suddenly uncomfortable that Chanyeol had held it and looked at it enough to bring it up.

The picture showed a young Baekhyun, teenage Suho, and two other people; their parents. All four had the brightest smiles on their faces while the beautiful backdrop glowed perfectly. Their faces were clear of negative emotion, appearing as if there wasn’t a single care or concern in the world for either of them. Nothing but Just a bright and happy family looking back at him. It seemed almost foreign to him, a picture he would have forgotten was taken if he was never shown it again. It only reminded him of how much things had changed. 

But after seeing it with his own two eyes, it felt like the photo was taken just yesterday. On a mad, he’d be able to pinpoint the exact location it was taken in. Easter 2010, just over nine and a half years ago from today. Everything memory back then flooded his memory. Back then, everything was right in the world to him. Nothing existed for him to worry or stress over besides getting to the playground before it became crowded. His smile looked the brightest in the picture, being the youngest at nine. 

One of the only things that seemed to be the same from past him was his passion for football, something he told himself he would never lose. It kept tied to his past, to his house, to his family. He couldn’t just give it up so quickly.

“What the hell?” Baekhyun asked after the initial shock of the sight of the picture was over. He looked directly into the eyes of Chanyeol, hoping to find any sense of regret, but was left disappointed when he could only see confusion. “Why do you have this?”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened in alarm, most likely at Baekhyun’s reaction. “What are you talking about, Baekhyun? It’s just a picture.”

“But I’m asking why you’re holding it, did I give you permission to dig through my personal belongings?” He fired back, half surprised at the tone his voice held. 

“I just found it on the counter entering the bathroom, I wasn’t specifically looking for anything in particular, and certainly not a picture.”

“But-” Baekhyun began, unable to find the words to finish the sentence. He found it difficult to put his emotions into words in a way that other people would understand, and this was one of those cases. Instead of saying anything else, they both just looked at each other with very different expressions on each of their faces. 

Chanyeol let out a sigh before speaking again. “Look, I know your parents aren’t around. You don’t have to hide that from me.”

“What do you mean? I’m not hiding anything!”

“I… Well, I get that. Maybe that wasn’t the right choice of words, but I’m not here to tease you or anything, that wasn’t my intention.”

“Then what was your point in showing it to me?” Baekhyun questioned. 

Chanyeol opened his mouth immediately, only to close it seconds later while biting his lip. He hesitated for a moment, awkwardly glancing around before sighing once more. “You’re right, there was no point. I just thought it was cute and didn’t think much of it. I’m sorry I upset you Baekhyun, I didn’t mean to.”

“That’s… that’s okay.” Baekhyun responded, tilting his head downwards. He now felt bad for saying things without thinking. Obviously, Chanyeol had no ill intentions, he knew that, but something made him say it anyway. Why should he be getting upset about something like this anyway? It was just a simple picture, nothing more. 

Deciding to not return the picture to the spot he found it in, he carefully placed it in a drawer in the kitchen. It served no purpose hanging up for everyone to see if it only caused him stress to even look at it. 

“I’m going to go take a nap on the couch,” Chanyeol announced as if nothing ever happened between them. That quickly, he had moved on and was now making his way towards the living room. 

Barely five minutes later, a faint snore filled the house. Baekhyun wondered if he was going to have to listen to that the entire time. How did it make sense that both Suho and Chanyeol snore?

Suho came home eventually, looking somewhat confused to see Chanyeol still here, but ignored it for the most part. He looked around the house for a moment before talking to Baekhyun. “Did you eat? I’m guessing he didn’t cook anything today.” 

“There’s a microwave meal I can eat,” Baekhyun answered.

“Good. When Chanyeol wakes up, tell him that we have a guest room he can use, he doesn’t need to keep sleeping on the couch if he’s going to stay here. And I do have extra clothes if he needs them, though I'd doubt that they’d fit him.” He offered, standing next to Baekhyun to get the same view of the sleeping man. 

Baekhyun smiled slightly, amused at the irony of the offer. He considered telling Suho that Chanyeol had already checked, but decided against it. 

“I’m going to head to bed now though,” Suho announced, patting Baekhyun on the back.

“You’re not going to eat?” He wondered.

“I ate something on the way,” Suho responded, already on his way up the stairs. 

Baekhyun questioned why he kept acting this way, so distant from him, shutting him out. Even if their conversations seemed completely normal, it was the lack of them that didn’t make any sense. They barely talked anymore, barely had a meal together. Recently he thought it had been getting better, but lately, he had found it difficult to even hold a conversation with him. Was it because of Chanyeol? Somehow taking over the spot of ‘older brother?’

He shrugged the thought off, deciding it was probably because he was just stressed out with work. Without Chanyeol being there today, it must have been especially busy for him and everyone else at the office. Chanyeol remained sleeping soundly on the couch for a while after, Baekhyun didn’t have the heard to wake him after seeing how peaceful he looked while sleeping. The view looked very similar to the one of last night, where Chanyeol’s head lay comfortably on his lap. It was almost the same position as well, with the hand sticking off of the couch while the rest of his body was curled up tightly with the exception of one leg, which was stretched out as far as the couch would allow.


	21. twenty one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, at this point i think ill just upload whenever i finish editing. I dont know how long something will take to write and edit but hopefully not longer than a week, i guess we’ll see.

The second football game for the team took place the following weekend and Baekhyun was beyond ready for it. His attention was set on it the entire week before, not being able to focus on much else, even rushing through breakfast to get out in the backyard to toss some balls around. If there was one thing in this world he was prepared for, it was this one game. The sense of victory was tingling on his fingertips, nobody would snatch away the chance this time.

The second he passed the touchdown mark, he felt the rush run throughout his body, taking over all of his senses. His arms and legs tingled with excitement and it felt like everything in the world was perfect again, like nothing could ever go wrong. His heart was beating so quickly it felt like it would beat out of his chest. The satisfaction of knowing that he did it and that he was capable of doing it was all he needed. It felt amazing to be able to redeem himself from the disaster last week, the confidence in himself slowly building back up. 

Right as the game ended, he ran off the field with excitement. The team huddled together to celebrate their win, and most importantly, _his_ win, though he kept that bit to himself. 

While the rest of the team was celebrating, Baekhyun caught sight of a certain man out of the corner of his eye. Everything instantly felt a million times better once he saw Chanyeol, smiling and looking just as happy as he was. Before the game, he hadn’t realized that he had even come, but now it was all he could think about. 

It almost felt like something changed within him, the moment he saw Chanyeol’s face looking as happy as he felt. His nerves too over and next thing he knew, he had run over toward him and gave him a huge hug. His helmet was thrown onto the grass halfway through while Baekhyun let himself free and wrapped his arms around his waist. The embrace was returned almost instantly, a sense of comfort washing over him. Chanyeol’s large wingspan and body wrapped around him was all he needed. 

“Baekhyun, I’m so proud of you,” he said, speaking directly into his shoulder, voice slightly muffled.

“Thank you.” He replied, sincerely meaning it. 

Their hug lasted longer than expected but they eventually broke off after a while. A wave of awkward silence coated the air after that, leading them to hold each other's gaze for a moment. 

Baekhyun cleared his throat, excusing himself for a moment to use the restroom. The familiarity of the restroom stuck out as he remembered that this is the room where everything started for him. The lockers stacked against the walls, the benches coated with built-up sweat, the bathrooms that look like they haven’t been cleaned in years, everything. It all reminded him of how far he has come and how much progress he made. This being the last football season he’d take part in as a high schooler, he knew he’d miss it once he eventually moves on. 

He splashed some water from the sink onto his face, attempting to wash off some of the sweat and dirt off of his face. The cool water against his warm face felt refreshing as he looked at himself in the mirror. A smile crept onto his face, showing his obvious excitement about winning. 

A small click was heard in the room, causing Baekhyun to whip his head around and look around. It sounded like a stall opening, but at first glance, he couldn’t see anyone. Shrugging off the suspicion, he turned his attention back to the sink and mirror. 

No more than ten seconds later, a figure appeared in the mirror reflection. Judging by his outfit and the scowl on his face, Baekhyun could quickly assume that he was a player from the opposing team. Trying to avoid any interaction, he quickly shifted his gaze back to the mirror. The look on his face told Baekhyun that he wasn’t in a very good mood. 

He circled around him, scanning Baekhyun’s body up and down. His body motions were smooth and discreet, sporting an intrigued look on his face. It was almost like he was observing Baekhyun, scanning his every movement which caused him to wash his hands quicker than he normally. 

“Is it you? The captain?” The man asked, startling Baekhyun.

He hesitated to answer, not having the desire to think of one due to the obscure situation. There were a lot of different things that could come out of this conversation, and he was opting towards one of the more positive results. His head raised up to make eye contact with him through the window, offering a slight nod.

“Aren’t you the one who killed his father?” He continued, responding almost instantly. 

Baekhyun’s grip on the sink tightened as the words fell out of his mouth. It was like a wrecking ball just crashed through the building right into him. That was the absolute last thing he was expecting to hear from this mysterious man. He thought he would ask about the game, the team, something that would have made _sense_ , but now he was stuck in this uncomfortable position. His eyes closed while his teeth gritted against each other. His mind was circling with every question in the book. 

“It’s you, isn’t it? I heard about that. The captain, wow. Don’t you feel any shame towards your team? They let you lead them?” He questioned, taking more steps. 

“I didn’t kill my father,” Baekhyun replied bluntly, forcing it out of his throat. 

“That’s what they all say.” He taunted. “But for some reason, I find that hard to believe.”

It took everything in him to not react, to not cause a scene right on his own home turf. No matter what was had been said, he needed to let this fly over his head for a better end result. For everyone, not just him. Whether Baekhyun would like to admit it or not, he did have a point. He was the team captain, and team captains can’t just go around causing problems wherever they go. 

“You can tell me, don’t be afraid too.” He spoke again, the tone of his voice sending chills down Baekhyun’s spine. It made him feel even more unsure than he already did. 

Thinking fast, he grabbed the paper towels to dry his hands off and attempted to exit the bathroom as if there was nobody else there. He wanted to get himself completely out of the situation as calmly as he could before he ‘accidentally’ beats this stranger up. He began by taking small steps, avoiding eye contact at all costs. The only think on his mind right now was exiting the locker rooms. 

Before he made it far at all, barely passing the trashcan, a large force jolted him backward, causing his feet to stumble slightly. A few attempts at moving forward made him positive that this man, whoever he was, now had a firm grip on the back of his shirt.

“Let go of me!” Baekhyun shouted out loud, already breaking the promise to himself to remain peaceful. More and more attempts were made with zero satisfactory results before he concluded that struggling under the grip wasn’t going to get him anywhere. 

“What, you’re not going to fight back? Boo hoo, I was expecting a show.” 

Baekhyun whipped his body around, surprised at how easily the grip was released, and lunged forward to grab onto the wrist of the other man. Little progress was made in the situation, as the only reaction Baekhyun got was a laugh and a sickening smile.  
“Evil people never lose their roots. No matter how hard you try to mask it, it will still be there. So go ahead, attack me if you want too.” The taunting voice was heard again, ringing through Baekhyun’s ears. 

His fist immediately let go, startled by the statement. This man wasn’t here to ask questions, he was here to taunt him, to humiliate him. He scoffed before stepping out of the bathroom at a moderate speed, glancing back a few times to make sure he wasn’t being followed. As long as he didn’t think about the interaction at all, he could pretend nothing happened and move on with his life. 

Once he exited, he squinted over towards the stands to spot Chanyeol standing next to Suho closer to the field. His heart started being faster, he had forgotten that Chanyeol was still here. 

“Hey, Baekhyun.” Suho said as he approached, “Good job playing today.”

“Thanks.” He said simply, avoiding eye contact. Suho wasn't aware of what just happened, but he still felt embarrassed about everything. He didn’t even know what for, normally he would have gotten more upset, but for some reason, he felt extremely calm. 

“I’m going to go get the car, you guys can meet me in the pickup line in a few minutes, okay?” Suho announced. The two of them nodded in agreement before he walked off in that direction. 

Baekhyun glanced behind him once more to make sure the boy wasn’t still behind him, or anyone for that matter. and was relieved to not see anything. Though due to the darkness, though, it was hard to see anything. 

“You worked really hard, kid. Your team is good too, you’ve won both games so far. I guess that’s what happens when the team leader is so good at leading.” Chanyeol commented after the two of them were alone. 

“Thanks.” He replied, “we all played well today, I think.”

“You think?” Chanyeol laughed.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun answered, aware that this conversation was going nowhere. He felt unable to focus completely, which was out of the ordinary considering how focused he always seems to be when talking to Chanyeol. If anyone could take Baekhyun’s mind off something, he was the one, but even that wasn’t working. The events that took place were still on his mind. Questions about everything, and pure disbelief at some parts. Was that guy trying to attack him? How did he even find out about Baekhyun in general?

“Baekhyun, are you okay?” Chanyeol asked.

“What? Yeah, why?”

“You seem distracted, is there anything on your mind?”

He mentally pinched himself for letting anything show. The last thing he needed was Chanyeol finding out about anything. “I’m okay.” He replied.

“Well, that’s good.”

“Actually, I think I left my water bottle in the bathroom. I’ll so get it.” He spat out, getting the sudden urge to find the man again and ask more questions. He knew the curiosity would eat him alive as soon as he got home, so while he still had the opportunity too, he wanted to figure this out. There had to be an intention for all of this, a reason. It’s not a common thing for people to walk up to strangers and know certain things about them. 

“That’s okay, I’ll wait here for Suho.”

Baekhyun walked off, scanning around the field. His eyes were on alert searching for any hint of orange, which was the opposing team’s color. If he found one of them, it might be easier to find the rest. 

A crowd of players appeared to be gathering over towards the locker rooms, right where he came from just minutes ago. His cheeks heated up at the sight while he considered ducking behind a building to avoid any unwanted stares. But he was already spotted by someone before he had the chance to make a decision. 

One stare turned into multiple and eventually all of the attention was on him. All he was focused on was the same familiar face, who was now scanned his own face. A smile crept onto the familiar orange team player’s face before he broke out into a fit of laughter, “I knew it!”


	22. twenty two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello im back from vacation and the first thing i did was write for like 2 hours. yay!
> 
> im trying to finish this story so i can get working on other stories but i have NO idea when that'll be so here ya go.

“I knew it!” He exclaimed, earning confused glances by the rest of the team members. By the looks of it, he had kept their little interaction to himself.

Baekhyun started to regret coming over here the more he looked around at everyone’s faces. It was taunting. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea he’d ever had. 

“He’s back, I knew he couldn’t just leave it like that. You guys are going to want to see this.” He paused, pointing around to everyone before looking back up to him. “Would you like to talk some more, Baekhyun?” He provoked, taking slow steps forward, moving closer to him. The intimidating vibe he gave off was completed with his arms crossed right in front of his chest and his head tilted towards one side. “Or, are you going to just attack me and call it a day? Not too far off from your normal personality, am I right?”

Baekhyun clenched his fists. Obviously, this man thought he knew him, but he was wrong, completely wrong, and now the rest of the team was aware that _something_ was happening. That couldn’t be good for their teams' reputation. This man had to have some real nerves to start this whole interaction, even if he was the one who came over here in the first place. “Who the hell are you?” Baekhyun questioned, ignoring the questions he was asked.

“I’m not the important one here, just so you know. This is about _you _” He huffed, close enough to Baekhyun now that he felt the breaths come out his mouth. They were even visible in the cold night sky.__

__“Except I’m about to make this about you.” Baekhyun threatened back. They were completely empty words, holding zero underlying meaning. He didn’t even know what he was trying to imply._ _

__“What? Do you even know what you’re saying?” His hands crept onto Baekhyun’s collar, allowing cold sweat to drop down his back in fear. His fingers were trembling as they moved up to grasp the other guy's wrists. It was similar to how his grip was earlier, except tighter and they were now face to face with each other. “The rest of you go ahead and go, I’ll take care of this.” He turned away for a split second to address the rest of the team. “From one captain to another.”_ _

__The captain, this man was the captain of the other team? No wonder they sucked. Everyone else scrambled quickly, almost like they were afraid of him and what he was capable of._ _

__“Don’t worry, I’m not that violent. I don’t go around killing people.”_ _

__The word, _killing_. A word he never wanted to hear again, especially directed towards him. A word that stuck with his brain more than the rest, it turned the switch in his brain. Grabbing on even tighter, he hoped his sudden movement and strength would be enough to get this guy's arms off of him. Moving fast to the side should do the trick, if he predicted it well enough. _ _

__“What a fucking pussy.” Was whispered into his ear, causing him to act quicker and harsher than he had intended, but he didn’t entirely regret it._ _

__It pushed him off of him and sent him to the floor. Baekhyun surpassed the urge to pick up his foot and begin kicking his body like there was no tomorrow._ _

__“Just as I expected, you can’t control yourself. What a pussy!” The guy spat back. “Fucking pussy!” He taunted, the grin never leaving his face, even after just getting flung right onto the blacktop. “Go ahead, try something on me again._ _

__“What the hell did you expect me to do? Let you hold me forever?” Baekhyun fired back. This guy was looking for a fight and Baekhyun was going to make sure he didn’t get one._ _

__The guy stood up instantly, moving closer in the same position they were just in. They never learned. Only one hand was placed around his collar bone this time. Baekhyun found out soon enough where the other one went when he was getting a face full of it not even seconds later._ _

__Stumbling backward, he moved his hands in front of his face in preparation for another attack. Another blow to the face, he could take it. He could take it all, but he was not going to fight back. He vowed not to do that, especially to someone who was basically begging for it. Giving the other team captain a chance to feel powerful right after losing a game was something he had dealt with many times before in past years. People get mad when they lose, and they want to make it someone else's fault._ _

__This was the only interaction that got as personal as it did. He was hanging onto the small hope that it was all purely coincidental. That this guy just asks everyone that in hopes of _maybe_ receiving the reaction that he intended for. _ _

__Another punch to the face never came, surprisingly. Baekhyun thought he would have kept going until the sun rose. In fact, it didn’t seem like he was here at all. Opening his eyes to emptiness, he wondered what made the other man scurry away._ _

__A hand was felt on his back and his body froze up. He was going to attack from behind. Shit. That was a tactic he needed to watch out for at all times. How could he have forgotten something so simple? Instead of looking back and being face to face, he closed his eyes and clenched his fists. It wasn't as painful if he kept his eyes and mind off of it._ _

__“Baekhyun? Why are you on the floor?” A voice spoke. It was deep, it certainly didn’t sound like the same voice, it was more familiar and peaceful._ _

__It was _that_ voice. “Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asked, turning around to face him. He looked extremely confused, to say the latest. This wasn’t the location he expected to meet Chanyeol next, which led to some explaining on his part. _ _

__Baekhyun couldn’t meet his eyes for a second, quickly standing up and shaking off his uniform. “What are you doing here?” He asked casually._ _

__“I could ask you the same thing. Is there a reason you’re on the ground?”_ _

__“Not really.”_ _

__“You just walked over here to pee and then decided to lay on the floor?”_ _

__“Well,” He paused, debating whether or not to lie or tell the truth. If it was Suho, he would be thinking of any excuse possible, but this was Chanyeol. Chanyeol wasn’t going to get mad at him. “It’s not that simple.”_ _

__Chanyeol crossed his arms. “You can tell me. I’m not going to tell your brother anything if that’s what you’re worried about.”_ _

__“Well…” His voice trailed off, unable to find a place to begin the conversation. “The other team captain was like… mad they lost I guess, so he came after me some. But it’s okay, I’m okay.”_ _

__Chanyeol raised his eyebrows. “Did he hit you?”_ _

__Baekhyun sighed before nodding slightly._ _

__“Well, that’s frustrating. But I won’t do anything about it if you don’t want me too. Unless you want me to give him a slight tussle, I’m kind of good at that.” He humored, lightening up the mood slightly._ _

__“He ran away, it’s okay now. But, thank you. Honestly, It’s not the first time it’s happened.” Baekhyun admitted._ _

__“Really? Is there some sort of captain fighting club that you weren’t informed about?”_ _

__Baekhyun giggled, “I guess so.”_ _

__“Let’s go back to the car, Suho’s probably waiting.” Chanyeol rubbed his hands onto Baekhyun’s head, styling his hair forwards. “Let’s just hope that thing doesn’t leave a bruise.”_ _

__For a second there, Baekhyun had forgotten that he just got punched in the face._ _

__-_ _

__“What happened to your face? Was that there yesterday?” The words awoke Baekhyun from sleep early the next morning. He opened his eyes, blinking a few times for them to adjust to the lighting. The source of the voice was Suho, of course, who else? His face hung above Baekhyun’s with raised eyebrows._ _

__“What do you mean?” Baekhyun responded quickly, placing his head onto the backboard of his bed. He didn’t even realize someone else had walked into the room, let alone that they were watching him and examining his facial features. He moved his hands up to touch his face, cursing to himself that he hadn’t thought of an excuse beforehand. They had arrived home late last night and Baekhyun had gone up to his room before doing anything else._ _

__“I mean it looks like your cheek is bruised.”_ _

__“Oh, that?” Baekhyun said. “That… I must have hit someone hard during the game. I didn’t realize it would bruise.” He lied, hoping it was at least somewhat believable._ _

__“Someone hit you with your helmet on?” Suho questioned, a suspicious look creeping onto his face._ _

__“It… fell off.”_ _

__“It fell off? When?”_ _

__“It’s nothing to worry about, okay? Chill, I play football. Of course things are going to happen.”_ _

__“I know that. But-”_ _

__“You don’t always have to comment on everything, you know,” Baekhyun grumbled, wondering why Suho couldn’t just drop it. Did everything have to be an issue with him?_ _

__“I don’t, Baekhyun. God forbid me to be confused about why there’s a bruise on my brothers face!”_ _

__“I told you why!” Baekhyun yelled back, throwing the covers off of him. “So you can suck it up.”_ _

__“Baekhyun!”_ _

__“I’m going downstairs now, you can continue this conversation with yourself if you’d like too, but I’m not going to be apart of it anymore.” He stated, walking out of the door without a glance back._ _

__-_ _

__The rest of the day was quiet. No more words were spoken between the brothers. Baekhyun spent most of his time watching television while Suho sat at the table doing work, as usual._ _

__Chanyeol eventually came over closer to the middle of the day and Baekhyun had never felt more thankful to have someone else in the house. It was expected due to how often he was over, but that didn’t make it any less special to him. Chanyeol entering was an indication that it was dinner time._ _

__“Hey Chanyeol,” Suho addressed. “I have a question.”_ _

__“Yes?”_ _

__“Do you think it’s fair for me to know what goes on in Baekhyun’s life.”_ _

__“Oh my god,” Baekhyun grumbled, rubbing his hands into his face. “Not this again.”_ _

__“I’m just asking!”_ _

__Chanyeol blinked a few times, looking slightly taken aback. He probably didn’t expect a question like that at all. His gaze was going back and forth between Baekhyun and Suho. “Umm… well.”_ _

__“Just in your opinion.” Suho continued._ _

__“I mean… I think he’s allowed to have some privacy in his life. He can choose what he wants to share and what he doesn’t” Chanyeol answered._ _

__“I mean-”_ _

__“You heard him.” Baekhyun interrupted, cutting Suho off. “Now fuck off.”_ _

__“Baekhyun!”_ _

__“But I also think there should be some respect for you, as the older one.” Chanyeol continued._ _

__“Oh? You hear that, Baekhyun? Respect!”_ _

__Baekhyun scoffed, sticking up his middle finger at Suho. People were eager to pick fights with him these days._ _

__“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to start anything between you guys.” Chanyeol apologized._ _

__“No, you didn’t, don’t worry. Just come on in.” Suho reassured, ending that conversation before it progressed any further._ _

__Chanyeol's face sported a look of confusion combined with fear. It made Baekhyun smile slightly, helping him move on from whatever the hell just happened._ _


	23. twenty three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello

Things went pretty normal from this point on. Suho went upstairs, thankfully, and Baekhyun could have some time alone with Chanyeol. 

He wondered what the meal for tonight would be. Every night was a new menu and Baekhyun had no idea how Chanyeol could manage coming up with so many different recipes. But, he always looked like he enjoyed it, always smiling while standing in the kitchen. Most days, Baekhyun would watch him do it, lacking anything else to do. 

Chanyeol was wearing casual clothes today due to it being a weekend. It felt more comfortable to be with him when he wasn’t dressed in a professional-looking suit. The sight always caught him off guard, making him feel like Chanyeol was too _important_ to be making conversation and cooking for him. 

“Thank you.” He said once he was sure Suho was out of hearing length. 

Chanyeol gave out a heavy sigh before responding. “You’re welcome. I’m guessing it has something to do with.” His hand motioned towards his face. “That.”

“Yeah, he can just be so nosy sometimes.”

“Well, I guess we all have a little bit of curiosity in us. But I would recommend covering it up slightly, at least, just cause we’re going out.”

“We’re going out?” Baekhyun questioned. This was the first he was hearing about it. 

“Yeah. I thought there would be no point in just sitting here all day and wasting it. We haven’t gone out much or had many fun times outside the house, right? Why not go somewhere?”

“I guess.” He responded. Hanging out with Chanyeol sounded fun, but going out didn’t. He was fine with them being in the comforts of his own home while keeping each other company. 

“Please tell me you have interests other than football and sulking.” 

Baekhyun shrugged, “I don’t really do much else.”

“Yeah, I’ve figured that out by now. Do you like movies?”

“No.”

“Bowling?”

“No.”

“Laser tag?”

“No.”

“This isn’t getting us anywhere.” Chanyeol sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Well, I don’t want to cook tonight. So if you want to eat anything, you’ll have to go out to dinner with me.”

“No invite?” Suho asked, rushing down the stairs.

“Well…” Chanyeol’s voice trailed off

“I’m just teasing. I can’t tonight, I’m supposed to be meeting a client.” He said, grabbing one of his coats off of the hook. 

“No surprise there,” Baekhyun muttered under his breath, not expecting anyone else to hear it.

“What?” Suho responded, turning around with his hand still on the doorknob, making it clear that he did indeed hear him. 

“You don’t do anything else but work and sleep. Do you even eat? Or go to the bathroom?” Baekhyun challenged, having the urge to speak up about this topic now that they were already in a sour mood. He might as well get all of his thoughts out there while he could. 

“Excuse me?” Suho clarified for the second time. 

“You’re rarely ever home anymore. I barely get to see you. Do you really have that much work to do? You leave home early, get home late and even work sometimes on weekends.” 

“Well aren’t you just in a peachy mood today? But I’m sorry, I don’t have any more time to argue with you right now.” He replied with a firm tone, closing the door halfway. “I have a business to take care of.” 

“Damn. What a dick!” Baekhyun huffed, crossing his arms and putting his feet on the chair next to him. Suho was always able to ruin the mood instantly, no question there. He was expecting a different answer but was left only with disappointment. The least he could do is say goodbye before leaving the house for who knows how long. 

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol reassured, most likely noticing Baekhyun’s unsettledness. “He’s just busy, that’s why he’s being a tad snarky. I’m sure he doesn’t want to be working so much either but sometimes it’s just inevitable, especially for a man like Suho.”

“Whatever,” Baekhyun muttered, still caught off guard. “How come you don’t work as much as him? Aren’t you higher up?”

“Technically, yes. But, as I mentioned, I’m really smart.” He smiled. 

“Does that affect the number of hours they make you work or something?” Baekhyun questioned. 

“No, not really, but I get things done much quicker so I have more time off.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes! I’m really good at doing things quickly. Like, really really good.”

“Your vocab isn’t all that extensive though.” Baekhyun teased. 

“Am I supposed to use big words while having a conversation? What if the other person doesn’t understand what I mean? Especially Mister Baekhyun here. I’d like to see you use some of the vocab I taught you last week.”

“I forgot it all,” Baekhyun admitted. Things like useless vocab words don’t stick around in his brain for all that long.”

“See, this is why I’m so smart. I knew that and removed every single one of those words out of my vocab _just_ so you wouldn’t be confused. I like to take precautions for my younger audience.”

“My English class has an empty spot if you’re interested”

“Hey!”

-

His dinner night out with Chanyeol was enjoyable. It served as a good distraction to get his mind off Suho for a while and to just have a good time.

The restaurant wasn’t incredibly fancy or anything, but it was just the right amount of elegant for Chanyeol’s taste as he was the one who picked it out. For a majority of the time, they talked, having an equal discussion. Excluding the few notable times where Chanyeol would begin talking about a topic and just would. Not. Stop. Talking. 

Chanyeol brought up the topic of football to him, wanting to know more about how the game was exactly played. Baekhyun happily explained everything, even if it looked like Chanyeol didn’t quite understand some parts of it. Nevertheless, he was still eagerly following along to the best of his ability. 

Baekhyun was also given a very detailed explanation about what happens in the workplace, most notably Chanyeol’s office which was apparently bigger than his whole house. That part might have been an exaggeration. Baekhyun also had little interest in office work but paid attention as if he cared. Watching Chanyeol talk about things he did well was interesting to him and the smile spread across his face could not have been bigger the more he talked about his career. 

For a majority of the conversation, he was just glad his biggest interest was something physical that required minimal brainwork. Throwing and kicking balls sounded a lot more appealing to him. 

Chanyeol brought up the question again about what he wanted to be when he grew up; this time in a much more friendly and comfortable environment. But, the answer was still the same. He still absolutely zero clue about what the future held for him. Getting through High School, in general, was already a tedious task in itself, throwing in the stress about the future just seemed like a nightmare. Even the simple thought of working in an office like Chanyeol and Suho sounded suffocating to him. If he was given the choice too, he would just play football for the rest of his life. It always put him in a good mood. 

There were other topics discussed throughout, but nothing stood out as important. It was mainly just light everyday conversation, things they would talk about while Chanyeol was cooking dinner. 

After they finished dinner, which was good, but didn’t match up to Chanyeol’s creations, they both headed towards the car. “Don’t sit in the backseat, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said as Baekhyun was already reaching for the door. “Sit up here with me, I want to speak directly to you. It’s weird to have a conversation with you when you’re behind me.”

“Okay,” Baekhyun replied, turning around to grab the other handle. He didn’t understand why that idea hadn’t come to him before.

“Hey.” Chanyeol began, once they were both buckled and situated in the car. “Can I tell you something?” 

“Yeah,” Baekhyun responded. 

“That night, I wasn’t actually all the way drunk.”

“What?” Baekhyun answered instantly, freezing in his position. “What do you mean by that?” 

“I mean, I remember everything I did. Slightly embarrassing, yes, but I remember it.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun responded, adjusting his position in the seat. He had been debating whether or not to bring that part up but decided against it in case Chanyeol would feel embarrassed. Events from that night were cloudy in his brain as well, even forgetting about it before it was brought up again. There was no way he could have found out about it unless he remembered doing it.

“So what you said? What did you mean by that?” He asked curiously.

“Well, I guess I did need someone. I felt horrible, like I needed to be in the care of someone, anyone. If felt nice, actually. I've never really experienced anything like that. Thank you for… taking care of me. And, you know, cuddling.” He looked down with a small laugh, shaking his head slightly. “That’s embarrassing, I’m sorry.”

“No, no. It’s fine. I didn’t mind.” Baekhyun responded, still thinking about how Chanyeol mentioned that he needed _anyone_. He wasn’t looking for Baekhyun in particular, but just _anyone_. 

“Really?”

“Yeah… It’s fine.”

“Well, I’m glad you don’t mind. Just for future reference.”

Future reference??

“You have- uh- a good lap.”

-

The following Monday morning, Baekhyun woke up feeling like shit. It had to be a mixture of the hype from the football game, the stress, and frustration that followed after, and the lack of sleep he’d gotten almost every night this week. It all seemed like a recipe for disaster. 

His throat felt thick, like there was a layer of mucus coating the surface, which was disgusting. It was sore as well which made swallowing a task in itself. With his head pounding, he groaned and rolled over in bed, realizing how hot and sensitive his body was. Everything just felt so _gross_

He slowly sat up in bed, blinking away the white dots that began to form in his vision. The likelihood of him going to school today seemed minimal. Running his fingers over the top of his comforters, he threw them off his body to release it from the hot chamber.

Slight stumbles occurred while he walked down the stairs, but he eventually made it down. The house was quiet for the most part, the only sounds being rustling from the kitchen. It sounded like a plastic bag was being moved so Baekhhyun assumed it was Suho waiting for him to awaken so he could head to work. 

He turned the corner of the stairs, glancing into the kitchen only to see Chanyeol sitting on the couch instead of Suho with a newspaper in his hand. Normally, he would have questioned it and asked where Suho was, but he decided to leave that conversation for another time, not feeling well enough to start an unneeded discussion. 

“Hey, you’re up. Suho had to go in early, so I’m supposed to take you to school today.” Chanyeol announced as he caught sight of Baekhyun. 

“I don’t feel good.” He blurted out, completely ignoring Chanyeol’s words. 

His expression turned from causal to concerned almost immediately, “You don’t? What’s wrong?” 

“I don’t know,” Baekhyun mumbled, sitting down on the chair next to him. “I just feel sick.”

“Well, that’s a possibility. Is there a thermometer somewhere around here?” Chanyeol asked, standing up to look around the kitchen.

“Uhm, maybe in the cabinet?” Baekhyun suggested, waving a hand to an area of the kitchen. He really didn’t have any idea, though. 

Baekhyun looked around the house while Chanyeol rustled around in the kitchen, realizing again that Suho wasn’t here. It was like every task in the house that previously required Suho was entirely replaced with Chanyeol, almost like he got a whole new older brother. Minus the nagging. Chanyeol was much more outgoing. He did have a slight attitude, but Baekhyun would take that over Suho’s controlling tendencies. Maybe he realized that he didn’t have to be home as much anymore for him, as Chanyeol was playing the role just fine.


	24. twenty four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im back. for now. finally, yay!
> 
> heres an update for now, its not extremely long like how i had hoped it would be but, oh well. 
> 
> its been a while, yes. i think like 2 months. i wasn't planning on not updating for that long but it just kinda happened. 
> 
> this is an update for now but i dont know how consistent the next ones are going to be. currently im going to school full time and working almost everyday, so i have to squeeze in times to work on this whenever i can. ive cleared some things out of my life in order to do so, so i guess we'll just see. 
> 
> i wont be keeping an update schedule anymore, but will just update as i finish things off. im trying to put together the rest of the story but i mentioned earlier that i needed to rewrite a lot of it and i just havent gotten the time nor motivation to do that. 
> 
> i definitely don't think its going to take another 2 months for an update though! im in the writing mood now, though. hopefully I can just focus and write on a daily basis from now on.
> 
> anyways, thank you to everyone whos stuck around this long, and thank you to any new readers. basically just thank you to everyone reading my work, it really does mean a lot to me and i felt so guilty leaving everyone hanging for so long. 
> 
> sometimes I feel like my notes are longer than the actual story 
> 
> hope you guys enjoy this chapter! :)

Chanyeol crouched down in front of the couch, looking up at him while fumbling with a tiny thermometer. “What exactly are you feeling? Try to be as specific as possible.”

Baekhyun sighed, unable to exactly pinpoint what he felt. “I don’t know, but my I feel like I have a headache and my body aches.”

“Is that it?”

“My throat too.”

“Alright, let’s try this. You can place it in your mouth yourself, I don’t want to poke you.” He said, handing the small stick to Baekhyun. 

He poked his tongue out, awkwardly sticking the thermometer under his tongue while Chanyeol watched his every movement. Neither of them moved from their positions for the entire duration it was under there, which seemed like hours. When the small beep was finally heard, he moved his hand up to grab it before Chanyeol had the chance too. 

“101.5℉” He read. 

“That’s certainly a fever, but you’ll be okay. Some Advil should work. Actually, Tylenol seems to work better. Unless you want me to take you to the doctor, that’s doable. It’s completely up to you.” Chanyeol offered. 

“No.” Baekhyun said without thought, shaking his head. “I don’t need that.” He didn’t want to move, to leave his comfortable position on the couch. “Medicine is fine. As long as it takes away my headache.”

“Alright, as long as you’re okay with it. But I definitely won’t be sending you to school, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Do you need me to stay here with you?”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll be fine. You don’t have to do that for me.” Baekhyun lied, forcing a smile. Truthfully, he’d love it if Chanyeol stayed. Spending the whole day with him while he cared and took care of him sounded perfect. But he’d feel bad for holding him up from work. It was a selfish move, especially if Suho even went in early today. There must be a lot of work to be done. No point in making him put that off to stay home.

“Alright, if you’re sure.” He said, dragging a blanket over from a chair to drape it on top of him. “I wouldn’t be leaving you here alone if I wasn’t sure that you’d be okay. Cheer up a little, you’re a strong young man. It’ll be gone in no time.” He said, tapping his shoulder. 

“I know.” Baekhyun mumbled while watching him stand up to leave. Chanyeol grabbed his coat and walked out the door with a small wave.

Baekhyun curled up on the couch, realizing how much lonelier it has just got. Being alone while sick wasn’t his ideal situation, be he didn’t really have a choice. Part of him was upset Chanyeol didn’t end up staying after all but the other part knew he was just listening to what Baekhyun told him to do. And Baekhyun told him to leave. 

All he could think about was Chanyeol. His face, his eyes, his little perfect smile. The cheery energy he always brought to every situation, the sense of security Baekhyun had whenever he was with him. Maybe he was trying to make Chanyeol become his second older brother. Maybe one just wasn’t enough. Though, the one he had isn’t around all that much. Maybe it’s his brain telling him what he wants. But what exactly was it saying?

Baekhyun longed for some action, for something to happen, for something to be in motion so it didn’t feel like he was always stuck in a loading screen. Life seemed repetitive and boring, like no progress was being made anywhere. There has to be something more to look forward too in life than simple football games and stupid tests. An aspect of life he hasn’t quite discovered yet should be out there somewhere, it has to be. Because there was no was life was. This. Boring. 

Chanyeol brought out these questions in him. These questions about the meaning of life, almost as if he was placed there to show him more to the world. Like an innocent child waiting for the magical fairy to knock at his door and lead him out to all these things he’s been missing out on. 

It always had to do with Chanyeol. Everytime he looked at him, he just couldn’t explain what he felt. A feeling of closeness, like he wanted him to always be around him, but how could he describe that? How does anyone describe that feeling?

His fingertips longed to run through Chanyeol’s hair again. Like the last time. Exactly like the last time. Where his head was comfortably placed on Baekhyun’s lap, almost begging to be touched, begging for some attention. Those distinct memories we’re clear in his mind as he was unable to shake them out. The sense of holding someone was what he needed. 

He hoped that the incident would happen again. This time, he would be able to fully appreciate the moment without the thought lingering in his mind that none of it was intentional. Last time, he didn’t think much of it. The whole getting drunk, then acting drunk around anyone he found could have been something Chanyeol does often. Though Baekhyun didn’t have any way of proving that true, he also had no way of proving it false. 

But Chanyeol’s words in the car yesterday stuck in his mind. He wasn’t able to think about much else since, and now he was stuck with no distractions. Being too lazy to even walk to get the remote, he was left to only grumble in hopes someone out there would hear him. 

The clock passed by slowly and he grew even more bored. Thoughts were clouding his mind, as well as regret flooding his brain uninvited. He should have made him stay. He should have been dramatic, putting up a scene about he needed to be taken care of and spoon-fed, or else he’d drop dead immediately. 

The sound of a door being opened made him flinch, awakening him from a sleep he wasn’t even aware he fell into. 

“I’m back. I came back early so you wouldn’t have to be alone for that long.” Chanyeol announced, walking into the kitchen with a bag in his hands. “I brought you some popsicles. I don’t know how helpful they’ll be, but they’re here if you want one.”

Baekhyun smiled in response, rubbing his tired eyes. He glanced at the clock which read 2 pm. How long had he been asleep? It didn’t matter, though. He was just relieved he wasn’t home alone anymore. 

“How are you feeling?” Chanyeol asked, walking up to him. 

“Better. My headache isn't as bad.”

“That’s good.” He said with a small nod, looking around for a few moments before speaking again. “If you need anything I’ll just be right over here in the kitchen.”

Baekhyun nodded in response, watching Chanyeol walk back to the table. He watched him pick up some random newspaper and begin to read it. Multiple different expressions crossed Chanyeol’s face as he continued to read, probably the news from today. How Chanyeol was able to read those things every day without going insane was just foreign to Baekhyun. 

Then, he cracked a small smile. A slight grin placed onto his face. Baekhyun felt his breath hitched in his throat slightly. He just couldn’t pull his eyes off of Chanyeol. That was the setting point for him. That smile. 

Maybe this fever was making his hormones go crazy. 

Every time he saw that smile, something changed inside of him. It was like a spark set off in his brain and every previous thought that may have been bothering him he was thrown out the window. He’d never been in this position before, where all he could think about was somebody else. That person being Chanyeol. These feelings, sensations were all new to him. And he didn’t know what to do with them. 

His brain froze from its flow of thoughts when Chanyeol shifted his gaze over towards him, causing Baekhyun’s to instinctively turn away. He didn’t understand why he suddenly felt so weird in the presence of Chanyeol’s gaze. It had to be something about the _way_ he looks at him. The temperature in his face jumped up, causing him to quickly move his hands onto them to deliver a cooling sensation. 

All he knew was that Chanyeol looked… cute. Not like a baby seal type of cute, but _attractive_. It hadn’t occurred to him the first time they met, but Chanyeol was extremely attractive. Especially in that damn suit. He just looked cute. Even when he looked upset, or annoyed, or 10 seconds away from grabbing a baseball bat, he still looked cute. Cuteness was a trait that stuck with someone throughout the ups and downs of life, that was a fact. 

Cute. That word continued to repeat in his head. Soon enough, without even realizing it, his eyes made their way over to Chanyeol again. Except for this time, Baekhyun didn’t turn his face away immediately. For a second there, he could swear they held each other's eye contact. 

“Hello?” Chanyeol asked. 

“What?” Baekhyun asked, almost more of a question for himself than Chanyeol.

“Nothing, I just wondered if you needed something.”  
 _I need you_. He thought. It almost flew out of his mouth, but he luckily had enough self-control to avoid that. He was _that_ close to putting himself in a position where he wouldn’t be able to explain himself. “No,” Baekhyun responded instead.

“Okay.” Chanyeol shrugged, turning back to his newspaper. Why was he always giving so much attention to that damn newspaper? There had to be a very interesting news article for him to be paying more attention to it rather than the sick person lying helplessly on the couch. 

-

Baekhyun felt better pretty soon after that. The sicknesses were spreading all over, if you were able to dodge the bullet then you’d consider yourself lucky. Missed school, however, means missed school work. Sehun filled him in on most of the more important parts, including the fact that they had a science project and he had offered to take Baekhyun as his partner. 

Sehun had his backpack and school materials spread out all over Baekhyun’s floor. There was stuff everywhere, but they were making good progress. At least, for what they thought. Neither of them had the determination nor attention span to actually research articles and create a conclusion. 

“It says human cloning is illegal in 46 different countries. If America has 50, does that mean it’s legal in 4 of them?” Sehun asked from across the room. “I’m just saying, if we wanted to actually try doing the cloning, we would just need to figure out what areas it’s legal and travel to them.”

Baekhyun sighed, shaking his head. This was his partner. “We’re not actually cloning anything here. And those are countries Sehun, not states.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Please just stick to football.”

Sehun shrugged, letting the comment pass right over his head while turning to look down at the assignment. 

Baekhyun yawned, writing down a few more facts he’d researched. A knock was heard on the door moments later. “Come in!”

“You guys look like you’re working hard in here, I made some snacks for you,” Chanyeol said, pushing open the door and setting down a plate of crackers and cheese. 

Baekhyun smiled at the gesture, saying a small thank you while Sehun turned his head to look at him. 

“He’s still here?” Sehun asked once Chanyeol left. 

“Hey, don’t ask stupid questions. Focus on your work. I’ve already done at least double what you’ve done.” Baekhyun responded, throwing a pillow at him. 

He waited for a few minutes, letting Sehun finish whatever he was doing on the computer, to ask a question that had been on his mind for the past few days. Weeks, even. He avoided it as much as possible, but not asking anyone at all would just dig a hole into his brain. 

“Hey, Sehun.”

“Yeah?” He answered, not even looking up from his computer. 

“Have you ever been in love?”

“In love? Why?”

“I don’t know. I’m just wondering.”

“Well, I love my parents. Maybe my cat too, though she’s quite feisty sometimes.”

“I mean like, in a relationship.” The question sounded so weird coming out of his mouth. He couldn’t believe he was even thinking about this, let alone asking Sehun about it. 

“Not that I know of.” 

“Oh, okay.”

“Stop asking stupid questions, Baekhyun! Focus on the project!”

**Author's Note:**

> if anyone's interested my instagram is @jonginprint


End file.
